Tuesday, February 10, 2009

So the NASA child-porn scientist pleads guilty, gets 5 years probation, and keeps his job (for now).

HoCo Judge to Hear Corruption Cases

Dixon, Holton and Lipscomb will have their corruption cases heard by the same judge, retired Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney.

Less overtime= more murders?

"Baltimore City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake introduced resolutions yesterday asking the city's police commissioner to brief the council on the effect of reduced police overtime on Baltimore's homicide rate, a plan to redraw police district lines and the effectiveness of the city's blue-light crime cameras."

Meanwhile, "Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will testify in Annapolis today in favor of a bill that would reduce 'good time' credits for inmates serving sentences for gun convictions"

Update: yesterday's corpse was found near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge* in South Baltimore. The death is considered "suspicious"
* Apparently, the post-1993 name for the Hanover Street Bridge.

Kennard Pratt, 27, was arrested and charged for the triple shooting on Bond St. last month that killed Antoine Betts.
(Bless their hearts, those Examiner reporters are still on the grind!)

Officer Margaret Duffy, who admitted leaving the scene of an accident in her Canton neighborhood, got one year of unsupervised probation and was ordered to pay $250 in court costs

The Examiner ferrets out Madoff victims in MD.

JZiz! "A young boy was beaten by a school bully so badly that his teeth were knocked out."

Police want to shut down the Executive Inn.

A Court of Appeals decision filed Monday found that a building partnership related to prominent Baltimore attorney Peter G. Angelos has the standing to challenge the city re. the Westside "superblock."

"A trial judge does not weigh evidence before giving a jury instruction on entrapment, but rather decides enough evidence exists for the jury to make a determination, the Court of Special Appeals has held."

"An aggressive federal effort to keep track of sexual offenders is at risk of collapse because of objections from states and legal challenges from sex offenders and others."

Monday, February 9, 2009

100 years on the road to victory!

"This week marks the centennial of a fateful landmark in U.S. history, the nation's first drug prohibition law."
(thanks EP)

Miss Dixon's state of the city speech? Lucky for you, Meister was taking notes while you were smoking behind the gym.
also on the scene, A.F. James MacArthur, who asked about police overtime.
and here's TDR's take
And Annie Linskey's.
Who covered it best?

Real Body, Imaginary Bridge

The body of an adult black male was found under "the Patapsco River Bridge"
(no such bridge... maybe the Hanover Street Bridge?)

A man shot in the neck by four teenagers on a dirt bike, a pizza deliveryman robbed in Hampden in the blotter

Deeply depressing: Peter Hermann chronicles the suicide of former officer Edward William Eldridge Jr.

A man shot while riding his bike south of Greenmount cemetery

In the county, "Same-sex ex loses visitation battle"
Fun fact: between 6 and 14 million children live with at least one gay parent

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Weekend

WBAL: murder victim Lemuel Wallace was disabled and living in a group home, was probably killed by someone he knew

Former Air Force senior airman Rico Rodrigus Williams was indicted for second-degree murder and three counts of tampering with a witness in the 2005 beating death of Army sergeant Juwan Johnson in Germany

"Baltimore's crime lab suffers from inadequate funding, spotty recordkeeping and broken equipment, according to an independent audit"

QTD: "All these hundreds of DNA exonerations across the country have demonstrated to anyone who’s paying attention that there are far more innocent people in prison than anybody could imagine"

Dixon's "considering the first major shuffling of police resources throughout the city in decades."

"veteran prosecutors Donald Giblin and Doug Ludwig are being promoted to lead the homicide and police misconduct divisions, respectively."

Facebook & MySpace blocked at the statehouse! "'This is like China,' said Sen. James C. Rosapepe"

Maryland’s largest-ever pharmaceutical-trafficking case was built by Federal intelligence specialists working in a former department store in Johnsontown, PA
(FYI: hydrocodone= Vicodin)

Irony corner: "A state delegate who once proposed special 'DUI' license plates for drunken drivers has been convicted of a drunken driving charge."

MoCo police are asking for the public's help to identify a homicide victim

Saturday, February 7, 2009

We'd press two, but bloody puke is on the handset

"Thank you for calling the Kellogg Company. If you would like to share your comments regarding our relationship with Michael Phelps, please press one to speak to a representative. If you're calling about the recent peanut butter recall, please press two now. Otherwise, press three or stay on the line. Thank you."

.. NORML is calling for a boycott.
But Subway, "perhaps realizing its product could serve an entirely new niche of sub eaters — namely, ravenous pot smokers — announced it still supports Phelps"

Friday, February 6, 2009

"Integrity Issues"

Hermann: Detectives Allen Adkins and Deryl Turner, who were serving warrants in Justin Fenton's story yesterday, are on the State's Attorney's "do not call" list due to "integrity issues"

Seriously? "Maryland judges have the authority to order new trials after convictions, an awesome power because their decisions can’t be appealed. So if a judge steps outside the law and orders a new trial for improper reasons, nothing can be done about it."

"hipsters will shed some tears tonight"

"Quite a few hipsters will shed some tears tonight." Lithuanian Hall fined $8k, tonight's show canceled, says Meister

Media blabber: News Corp lost $6.4 BILLION in Q2. Ad revenue at the WSJ is down 20%.

Federal Cracktacular

Four-time offender Deshon Thomas got 11 years for the ready-rock (distributed by an 8-year-old!)

Two guilty pleas from "Tree Top" Bloods

Two MoCo residents were arrested & charged with trafficking underage prostitutes

Homicide Victims Named

Wednesday's three murder victims have been ID'd: Demetrius M. Saulsbury, 22, was killed in Broadway East; Lemuel Wallace, 37, was killed on the Gwynns Falls Trail restroom; David Bryan Wright, 47, was murdered in CHuM.

An officer was hit by an a-hole who fled the scene in a green vehicle.

Federal judge: Pro-life group can sue UMBC for $

Senate bills du jour: one that would raise the statute of limitations for child-abuse litigation from 25 to 50, one that would require health insurers to spend more on actual health care

Essex man gets 63 years in jail for setting house on fire while ex-gf's daughter was inside

Baltimore flipper is MLB snitcher
! (Is that a gold chain he's wearing? Of course it is)

"Authorities Not Laughing At Hacked Signs," but I am

Thursday, February 5, 2009

25 Years for Murderer of Shanika Pretlow

The SA's office reports that at hearing yesterday Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Brandon Chambers, 25, of the 1300 block of W. North Avenue to life in prison suspend all but 25 years and five years probation. Chambers pled guilty December 8, 2008 to the first-degree murder of Shanika Pretlow, 26. Chambers admitted to shooting Pretlow multiple times on October 18, 2005 after they engaged in unprotected sex and he falsely accused her of having AIDS.

Chambers pleaded guilty to the following statement of facts:
On October 18, 2005 police arrived on the scene in the 1800 block of McKean Avenue where they found Shanika Pretlow suffering from gunshot wounds, including a wound to the head. Medics rushed Ms. Pretlow to Maryland General Hospital where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy by the State’s Medical Examiner revealed that Ms. Pretlow had been shot four times and that all of the entry wounds went from the back to the front and she was negative for the AIDS virus. A .32 caliber bullet was recovered from her body. Her death was ruled a homicide.

On October 22, 2005 detectives received information from sources with information about a shooting advising them that Brandon Chambers was seen in a nightclub bragging about shooting Ms. Pretlow after having sex with her. On November 7, 2005 another witness advised police that he had seen Brandon Chambers leave a local bar with Ms. Pretlow on the day of her death and that he was now bragging that he “had to kill her.” Chambers killed Pretlow believing she was HIV-positive and that he had unprotected sex with her. In 2007 DNA testing of evidence recovered from Ms. Pretlow’s body revealed Brandon Chambers genetic profile as the major and only contributor.
Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Phelps prosecuted this case.

26

It appears there were actually three unrelated murders yesterday. The third was a man shot & killed in the 1600 block of Gorsuch Ave. in CHuM.

"Science Found Wanting in Nation’s Crime Labs"

"Police hope warrant sweep will curb city violence" (beautiful photo!)

City officials want to speed up the process of civil "nuisance abatement" lawsuits

An arrest for the carjacking and shooting last week of 19-year-old Michael Lewis

A man robbed in the Rotunda parking lot in the Blotter

Study: Meth cost 'society' $23.4 billion in '05

"Watch it, that tickles! Wow, I haven't felt suction like that since the Bush twins were in town! Uh oh, sporty, is that a cell phone camera over there?" Greg Kane imagines what Michael Phelps' bong might say. ... & wouldn't it be refreshing if a busted celebs "took responsibility" by donating to a legal defense fund for pot dealers?

Our favorite Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has been hospitalized with pancreatic cancer.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

25

"This afternoon, police found the victim, who was shot in the back, in the bathroom in a stone shelter at the Winans Meadow [Gwynns Falls] trail head, in the 1500 block of North Franklintown Road."


Domestic assault
in the blotter

What the?!

"A Baltimore man filed a $210 million civil lawsuit yesterday ... in connection with a 2006 incident during which he says a band of rogue cops held him at gunpoint in the street, stripped him and searched his rectum in front of about 30 onlookers." Said the victim, "I thought they were going to kill me."
!!!

A Good Question

What happens to all the stuff those car-break-in thieves steal?

24

A 22-year-old man shot to death in the 1700 block of N. Washington St.. No suspects, no motive.

This week's six murders, documented in the Ink

Baltimore's new drug treatment chief, Greg Warren. He's the former director of substance-abuse treatment services for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, collects decorative eggs and is against drug decriminalization.

What's up with Inspector General Hilton Green's annual reports?

Allegation: woman served "McD's Sanitizer" at drive-thru

Media blabber: Pink-slipped crime reporters Janis and Broadwater talk to the CP.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Girl Not Guilty of Teacher Beating

"In Reginald Lewis teacher beating case, girl not guilty of 2 of 3 charges ... Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Smith said that he found both sides credible -- and that both sides acted deplorably. He could not determine who was at fault"

35 Years for Murder of Earl Cornish

The SA's office reports that at a hearing, today Judge Paul Smith sentenced Darryl Halsey, 26, of the 4200 block of Sheldon Avenue to life, suspend all but 30 years for first-degree murder, five years consecutive for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and three years concurrent for wear/carry a handgun. Details:
On May, 16, 2007 at 517 Chateau Ave. the victim, Earl Cornish, 21, was talking to Denise Davis. During the conversation Cornish slapped Ms. Davis on the buttocks where she had recently had surgery. Ms. Davis called her brother, Darryl Halsey, and informed him of the incident she just had with Cornish. Halsey responded to 517 Chateau Ave. with a silver revolver, approached Cornish and shot him once in the back. Halsey then fled the scene. Cornish was pronounced dead at Sinai Hospital later that night.

Mayor Dixon to be Arraigned

this morning at 9:30 a.m. Her lawyers say she won't be there, though.

The man found stabbed to death on Dickman st. was ID'd as Kendrick L. Daney, 38. A 51-year-old co-worker turned himself in for the killing; he felt that Daney had "disrespected" him.

The Dick Irwin special has a person who fired shots at a car in the southern, a BMW carjacked in the central, a spray-painted swastika in Cockeysville.

Two guilty pleas, 4,500 stolen cell phones in a warehouse on Wilkens Avenue.

What the?! Education edition:
The former principal of the school where Jolita Berry taught testified that Berry actually threw the first punch. The E's Mike Silvestri reports that the fight started because Berry, who was playing 92Q in the classroom, wouldn't turn up the volume. And an earmuffed John Sherman got a sidewalk interview with Berry.

"Goucher College has suspended a visiting professor from Rwanda after being told he stands accused of participating in the 1994 genocide."