Two victims were ID'd in today's Blotter: Michael Johnson was shot on Friday afternoon at the corner of W. Lafayette Ave. and N. Payson St., and Sidney Millner -- one of the men who was shot at B&W Liquors on N. Stricker St. last Thursday -- died last night at Shock Trauma.
Also in the Blotter, a 16-year-old boy is in critical condition at Hopkins after being shot on Ready Ave. "for no apparent reason."
I missed this one on Saturday: John and Susan Griffin of Rodgers Forge were each indicted on felony child abuse charges.
An off-duty PG cop nailed the suicide half of her murder/suicide plan.
Police are seeking at least two teens for Saturday's attack on an MTA bus that was heading into the city from Towson on York Rd. Fortunately, the MTA spokeperson spared us the "safe and reliable" crap this time.
Skateboarding is not a crime. Videotaping the beatdown of a skateboarder, however, is.
We're all holding our breath for that piece of legislation, Mayor Moyer.
Not to toot Sheila's horn, but it's funny how O'Malley is running his mouth about crime when Bealefeld seems to be the one who's actually making some change. Oh, but wait. I read a little farther. It wasn't O'Malley's fault that he didn't get things done, it was the state's fault. Now I get it.
16 comments:
"Convicted murderer Brandon T. Morris has been sentenced to life without parole, after a judge denied the state's request for the death penalty."
Jesus Christ, how many COs do you have to murder to actually earn a death sentence in this state?
BTW, the Sun's article about Brandon Morris's sentence said there are six men on death row in MD. I thought there were only five, now I am confused. Has someone been sentenced to death in the past few months?
O'Malley is a joke. I can't believe people actually voted this pompus idiot in to public office.
StateStat, whatever. How about building a new courthouse and adding some judges so that the city isn't forced to plead out 95 percent of cases?
Does anyone else wonder, why do judges go along with that and say, we're not accepting pleas that give murderers five years, and let whatever crisis may happen, happen?
ps RIP Prop Joe
The problem is, if the courts get clogged up then because of a constitutional right to speedy trial, the court would have to dismiss perfectly good cases due to backlog. The worst offenders would demand timely trials which their attorneys know the court cannot accommodate and they would walk.
It seems to me that the routine failure to properly equip the courts with a large enough pool of prospective jurors (which probably means extra-territorial sommonses to surrounding counties) or physical courthouse space deprives citizens of a functional judicial system for criminal cases within this jurisdition.
Unfortunately, it is not clear that we have any constitutional basis for a reasonable expecation of a functional criminal court.
Amazing, isn't it ?
On another note (essentially not crime-specific):
Are these people on crack ?
Because the rest of Charles-North largely is. Going into a real estate recession and even Jay Brodie says they're out of their minds.
God save us from architects and visionary planners.
If the Judges fail to accept the plea bargains, the Def. will just Prey Jury Trial. At that point he must be given a jury trial within statutorily enumerated time period, or the charges must be dropped. By the time a plea deal reaches the judge, they have few remaining options. So the Judge can take the 8 year deal or let the defendant go.
Well, as long as their plans include knocking down that stupid, ugly statue in fron of Penn Station, I say go for it...
well, one could argue that the worst offenders are walking anyway, and letting things reach a crisis might force the state to take some action.
Speaking of offenders, bet the Griffins wished they'd moved two miles south over the county line, then they'd be facing up to six months and a pedicure...
Just let Atlas Shrug ??
How very... appropriate.
"a performing arts center operated by faith-based groups"?
False reporting of crime by Baltimore City Police in the case of hate crime?
Nah, they seem like honest folks to me ....
Nonfatal double-shooting in Forest Park this morning.
"Does anyone else wonder, why do judges go along with that and say, we're not accepting pleas that give murderers five years, and let whatever crisis may happen, happen?"
The general assembly would probably freak out and impeach the judge.
Anyone seen this hoodlum ?
Yeah, on a news alert three months ago. I wonder why he's in the papers now?
Grrrrrr, here are some bit from the Sun's updated article on Brandon Morris's sentencing.
" The judge, who recalled his experience with the murder of his mother, said he was persuaded by testimony of Morris' neglectful and abusive childhood, along with concerns that correctional officer Jeffery A. Wroten's loved ones would be dragged into courtrooms for years to come.
"It is, without question, the most cruel and unusual punishment for surviving victims to go through," Manck said of the appeals process, which in some capital cases in Maryland has lasted more than two decades."
And later on in the article:
" In sentencing proceedings, Morris' lawyers referred to two Baltimore County cases in 2003, when Circuit Judge Dana M. Levitz twice decided to sentence convicted killers to life in prison in death-eligible cases, explaining that he was loath to impose a death sentence because of the impact of its "unending" appeals process on victims' families.
Manck, in making his decision, pointed to the cases of Vernon Lee Evans Jr. and Anthony Grandison, who were sentenced to death for killings that occurred in 1983 and are still on death row. "
Maybe instead of leniency for murdering scum we should fix our broken capital appeals system! There is absolutely no good reason for death penalty appeals to last longer than a year or two. And if judges and juries are too reluctant to impose death sentences then make death mandatory for the worst crimes. The mention of Vernon Evans & Anthony Grandison really makes my blood boil. Those two subhuman savages murdered their victims the year before I was born, and they are STILL sitting on death row. I wish I could go down to Supermax and set the building on fire with all of the inmates still in there.
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