No witnesses and no motive in the Saturday evening death of Davon McCargo, though onlookers were there to watch him bleed to death in the street.
"... members of the city's all-volunteer auxiliary police unit say they used to do much more, including walking foot patrols with sworn officers. Many are now saying they do not get respect from the department and they are not being used effectively." In fact, "the unit is so low on the city's radar screen that City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake was unaware that the unit existed and offered a resolution in June to consider creating a volunteer unit that would supplement police. She later learned that one existed."
Yike!!!
Witness intimidation worked for Jacob Brooks, 19, who was charged with a 2005 slaying outside a Temple Hills nightclub and for the fatal shooting last year of one of his childhood friends who Brooks mistakenly believed was snitching.
Thirty-one years ago, Charles Hopkins went on a tear in city hq on a hunt for Schaefer, instead killing City Councilman Dominic Leone and shooting Councilman Carroll Fitzgerald, a secretary and a city police officer. Judge John Glynn has now moved him to "a less secure residential program."
"A city jury has found that the Housing Authority of Baltimore City should pay $4 million in damages to two siblings [Joseph Avery Jr. and Lisa Avery] poisoned by lead paint in their publicly owned rowhouse in the 1980s."
25 comments:
From www.zachsowers.com:
Please don't forget that the trial date against the four boys is set
for Oct. 15, 2007. The more people we have in the room to support
Zach, the more influential it will be on the jury and judge.
Everyone who cares about Zach is encouraged to attend.
You can help out with the trial by sending letters to the prosecutor
working on Zach's case to explain how this should never have
happened to Zach. These letters will be influential during
sentencing. Also, you can email Mayor Sheila Dixon and ask for
protection and safety and remind her of Zach's story.
This is all stated on the "How Can I Help?" page. Just as
importantly, you can call, email or write the Baltimore City States
Attorney, Patricia Jessamy, and ask for justice in Zach's case. Ms.
Jessamy has the final say on the outcome for the 4 boys.
Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office
208 Mitchell Courthouse
110 North Calvert Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-396-4001
mail@stattorney. org
Here's something amusing/sickening from the Sun's article about Baltimore's auxilliary police:
"The unit is so low on the city's radar screen that City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake was unaware that the unit existed and offered a resolution in June to consider creating a volunteer unit that would supplement police. She later learned that one existed."
God that woman is an idiot.
Jennifer Sites is the ASA prosecuting Zach Sowers' (alleged) attackers.
"Ms. Jessamy has the final say on the outcome for the 4 boys."
I don't mean to be an annoying nitpicker, but it's the judge & jury who have the final say, not the State's Attorney.
But doesn't the SA give the sentencing recommendation to the judge? Perhaps they're worried that Jessamy will ask for a more lenient sentence since some of the attackers are juveniles.
True. She also gets to decide whether to offer a plea bargain or not. I've got a feeling that this case has attractced enough attention that they'll end up taking it to trial though. What's the maximum penalty for attempted first-degree murder?
City police scale back foot-patrol policy
Make up your minds you idiots! If another nutcase like Charles Hopkins went and shot up city hall I don't think I would mind.
tell me again why zach sowers is worth more as a human being than any of the other thousand or so people who are murdered/nearly murdered in this city every year?
He doesn't have a long string of felony convictions. I'd say his life is worth a lot more than that of some hoodlum or drug dealer. And no, I'm not saying that violent crime against anyone is acceptable, but I have more sympathy for Zach as a victim than I do for some drug-slinging piece of crap.
There are of course other law-abiding citizens who're also victimized and get less attention than Zach Sowers. That is unfair, but Zach's family and friends did a pretty good job of publicizing his case.
If you want a good example of what I'm talking about check out the criminal record of Byron Dickey, Baltimore's most recent murder "victim." That scumbag managed to build quite an impressive criminal record during his rather short life. It's still unfortunate that he was murdered, but he brought it on himself.
Like ppatin said, Zach wasn't a drug dealer with a string of convictions.
If you want to bitch and moan about someone receiving too much attention, then direct it to people such as Alexander Larkin. You remember him don't you? He was portrayed by the media and his family as an Iraq war hero who was wrongfully shot by a 25 year old police officer in the Inner Harbor (you know, where he fired a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun at the officer?). What no one mentioned was that he had a history of criminal behavior.
What I think y'all are missing in this s that the criminal code is not intended to rectify transgressions against a victim personally. Rather, it provides for the State to punish a criminal offender for transgressions against society.
In that respect, you'll find that the murder of a grad student is no different from the murder of a felon, precisely because both expose society to hazard. In a well-constructed statute, the penalty for equal offenses (similar misconduct) should be the same. That's why we codify law.
Now, that said, the amount of loss suffered may differ greatly between the two. That would show up in a civil case against the murderers.
Please don't make the mistake of giving the Dixon administration an excuse for its outrageously dangerous city.
Oh yeah, burgersub, you're right about zach sowers. so hey, screw you zach, and let's celebrate when those wastes of life are sentenced to 5 yrs suspended, because, hey, that's the way it's done here as opposed to an area that actually applies their laws, like NYC, Chicago, LA, etc. And don't forget to wave goodbye to the remaining few decent people like zach sowers as they high tail it the hell out of here, partially because of people with attitudes like yours, that one would normall assume would be on his side.
I realize that the law should treat all murders equally. I am not obligated to have equal sympathy for all violent crime victims though.
I think that Burgersub had a valid point. Violent crime harms everyone in the city, even if the "victim" happens to be a piece of human garbage who got what he deserved.
Am I crazy, or is it true that the Sun seems strangely non-objective when it comes to reporting about how "great" Dixon's campaign and "crime-fighting initiatives" are going? It seems that some of the "reporting" in the Sun is nothing more than an arm of Dixon's PR machine. Or maybe I'm mistaken....
"is it true that the Sun seems strangely non-objective"
Is it true that the Pope is Catholic?
Sorry, I didn't mean to be a dick to you but I couldn't resist making that comment. The Sun is a terrible newspaper. It's a pity the Examiner is such a piece of crap, I was hoping the Sun would get some real competition.
jaimetab, don't talk to me until you improve your reading comprehension skills. why haven't you moved to park slope yet?
I had a similar thought, burg, would it be just if Zach Sowers' attackers got more time because the judge, prosecution and/or jury were aware of the media interest? OR could the media interest backfire because (assuming it'll be a plea situation) the judge will be extra careful to treat it no differently than any other case?
On one hand I think it wouldn't be fair for these guys to be penalized on account of the victims' family's PR savvy, on the other, it's like, these are terrifying sociopaths who need to be put away for a very long time, and if that happens because of 'peer pressure' so be it.
Another interesting question, are all victims 'equal'? Should they be treated that way? The killers of police officers are treated more harshly. Should the killers of a doctor be treated more harshly than the killers of a crack ho?
"Should the killers of a doctor be treated more harshly than the killers of a crack ho?"
I'd say no, because someone who's capable of killing a crack ho is just as much of a threat to society as someone who kills a doctor.
The more telling question is "if you ask a cop, whom will he tell you is entitled to better policing? "
The correct answer, of course, is that the policing should not be attuned to the victim, but rather to the hazard attending the conduct of the offender(s). And that is public hazard. The correct answer is that everyone within a jurisdiction is entitled to be exposed to only those nondeterministic risks which could not reasonably be anticipated.
But Baltimore very clearly has 'safe' and 'more dangerous' neighborhoods, which a better government would equalize through proportionate deployment.
This government simply decides which places will be infested with criminals and gives them free reign locally.
The god damn point I'd like to make is that hopefully the media attention will shine a spotlight on the disgraceful criminal friendly "justice" system we have here, and that from here on in ALL victims will see justice done and not have to suffer watching these heinous evil bastards go free because Jessamy doesn't have the guts to try for a stiff sentence, and/or a brain dead juror derails the proper legal course. I wish Christopher Clarke's family had this kind of clout and support last year. BTW, have they ever found the bastards that killed him?
So, Zach Sowers gets a councilmanic resolution calling for justice from the courts and Jordan Brown gets Dixon's statement "There's circumstances that take place."
I hate this city. It's the seat of evil.
Te quality of life here is principally determined by the amount of your life you dedicate to lobbying your lousy political officials.
Reminds me very much of the Soviet Union. People who went to the factory and manufactured things got to go home to starve in cold apartments. People who skipped work to go lobby committee members got food & heat. And the goods manufacturered by the people who actually went to work.
You shouldn't have to lobby for justice and attempting to do so should not yield enhanced prosecutorial diligence.
I know it seems Christopher Clark was killed last year, but actually it was this year.
140 murders ago.
@ ppatin.. u have no right to call ANYONE a scumbag.. just b/c he has a criminal record doesnt make him a bad person. everyone made mistakes and he learned from his mistakes, he turned his life around an NO ONE deserves to die! no one brings death on themselves.. that's the dumbest and most ignorant comment that anyone could make
Post a Comment