The Stupidbowl

A triple shooting in the NW early this morning, with one fatality.

Life + 25 for Kenneth Brunetti, the Facebook friend of Lois Jean Vance Smyth who was convicted of her murder/robbery.

An indictment for Kyle "Cappo" Stevens of Remington, accused of dealing drugs and "use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug conspiracy related to two murders"

And 50 years for Randall Martin Jr., who tried to burn down his ex-girlfriend's house while she, her 5-year-old son and two other people were inside.

A Middle River family's Taser lawsuit can go ahead, rules 4th circuit.*

Ten years for Brian Williams, 28, accused of videotaping boys at urinals* at two MD rest stops.

A guilty plea from a woman accused of defrauding the National Guard.

Kim Trueheart was let back into City Hall

The guy who says he sold Ray Lewis deer velvet antler spray brought spray and a pair of perky nipples to New Orleans, told the press that he's gotten death threats

'This is Not Judge Judy!'

Day 765 of the Phylicia Barnes case: the state has rested, and Fenton Tweeted that Judge Nance "gave a long speech" the essence of which was that he was "not impressed with the State's case." Also today prosecutors played an unintelligible jailhouse recording* and a neighbor testified he saw Johnson with a blue tote.

Adam Meister popped in on The Spectator's 3rd bail hearing, apparently it was actually a different judge, who was most focused on the possibility that AFJMcM might "Tweet" instead of showing up for trial. And naturally "It would not be a MacArthur hearing without audience drama," an audience member stood up prompting the Judge say "this is not Judge Judy." ... if only everything were Judge Judy. Put your hand down, MADAM!

Stolen in the Northern: Newports, stromboli, a makeup bag.

An arrest in yesterday's stabbing in Owings Mills

Still No Bail for the Spectator

Man shot and killed at the Continental Arms shooting range* in Timonium

Two teenagers were shot last night in Edgewood

Metaphor fail: Republican E.J. Pipkin calls the gov's handgun-licensing requirement a "poll tax." Because you're not really participating in democracy if you aren't equipped to shoot yourself or others in the head.

Carrie Wells reports that the officer who shot a man Tuesday* was also implicated in the shooting of Donnie Chestnut in 2007 (which you may remember as the "Popsicle-stick case")

Though rape charges were dropped against one of the owners of the Blue Agave, Cheshire says the investigation of the incident is ongoing.*

Really?! Some senators want to change the speed-camera law to give camera operators even less oversight, letting "specified persons" review tickets instead of requiring police officers to do it. Some nerve!

And, shocking to no one, the Spectator has been denied bail again (for the third time) by the same judge he yelled at at the last bail hearing.

Hardworking defectives

Sounds like Michael Johnson's goose is cooked, stuffed and served up with a nice Chianti, but you never can tell what a jury might do. Today prosecutors read text messages from Johnson to his baby's mom, Tabitha Fickling, in which he said he was thinking about fleeing to where he couldn't be prosecuted.

WBAL just lost a poop-ton of credibility with a fawning report on the glories of Catholic schools. "more Baltimore-area Catholic school students are finishing high school and going onto college." But, laments the school Superintendent, "The challenge is always being enrollment." Gee, why might that be? "These economic times are challenging," she concluded. Oh, that must be the only possible reason why.

A 15-year-old was shot in the foot; but rest assured, WMAR reports that "defectives are working to figure out who shot him."

A Spanish-speaking man was stabbed in Owings Mills

Release the hounds

Dayum. Day 764 of the case against Michael Johnson, and yesterday's witness sounds like a doozy.* Drifter James McCray aka Jason Lee says he saw Phylicia's body and gave Johnson advice on disposing of it/her, and that Johnson told him he killed her because he raped her and then she wouldn't stop crying.

A man was shot to death yesterday in the 4600 block of Laurel Avenue (south of Sinai hospital and north of Cold Spring), the 14th murder of the year; a man was shot yesterday in Barclay.

Cham ID's the man shot to death in Lauraville yesterday as Travis Jennings, age unknown. The Ink has more details on last week's murders.

The world is again safe for queso: after reviewing the video of New Year's Eve at the Blue Agave, prosecutors have dropped all charges against the restaurant's co-owner.

In Glen Burnie a 22-year-old man is accused of strangling his 66-year-old aunt.

A man was robbed, punched and kicked near Belvedere Square.

The Patch reports that twice in the past week, booted vehicles have driven away.

They know how to take care of business in Rogers Forge: two Hamdenites were arrested after a resident saw them trying car door handles. Down in the city you'd be lucky to get a lackadaisical police drive-by a half-hour after such a call, but up in the county officers set up a perimeter and brought in dogs. "The Forge" always seemed kind of like Camazotz to me, but that level of service makes it darned appealing.

And finally the third bail hearing for Baltimore Spectator Apollos James MacArthur is tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. in the Mitchell Courthouse.

Sad and Happy Endings

A man was shot to death and found on Southern Ave. in Lauraville yesterday morning*

Good for you, Ed Ericson Jr., doing the tough and tedious work to trace Johns Hopkins U's $49 million payout for developing military drones, an activity rather at odds against the University founder's Quaker principles.

Day 763 of the Phylicia Barnes case. Fenton tweets that the Medical Examiner is testified her death was from asphyxia (lack of oxygen) and that after being bitched out and threatened with jail by Judge Sweeney yesterday Phylicia's father and stepfather are now sitting next to each other. The Deuce reports jurors were shown autopsy photos and that the defense floated the possibility she could have jumped into the water on her own.

Also from the CP: more on the assault of inmate Kenneth Davis at Roxbury; the end of Joshua Goldberg's epic mortgage fraud scheme

Headline of the week: "Men got 'Happy Endings' at York Spa massage parlor, thanks to City Paper ads." (Q: are topless rubdowns legal even if happy endings aren't?) or maybe it's "Ray Lewis denies using deer antler spray"

PA gun-store robbers caught in Baltimore, police say the robbers hoped to trade the guns for money and/or drugs.

Lawyers for Robert Gladden, the accused Perry Hall High shooter, argued today that his case should go to juvenile court.

Hampden man stole bike, crashed bike, got caught.

The principal of Mt St Joe's has resigned after accusations of "inappropriate" communications with students.

Barnes trial day 3

Fenton explores why a grand jury was convened in Harford County re. Phylicia Barnes' murder*, prosecutors played tape of Johnson's account of events made days after Barnes went missing,* jurors were shown a picture of Barnes' body that made her stepfather cry. And blogger David Adams dug up a transcript with Deana Barnes vehemently denying giving her sister alcohol or drugs, and alleges that Johnson had a child with another woman named Tabitha Fickling while he and Deana were broken up (though I haven't seen this reported anywhere else). Hrm.

Tyrone Alson was arraigned for the caught-on-tape murder of 18-year-old Tashawna Jones, and trial was scheduled for April 5.

And the 3rd police-involved shooting in five days,* what is up with that?

Also, John Peesocold, I mean Leopold, was found guilty of two charges and suspended, and what a relief to learn it was plastic coffee container.

Princess of Poli-tricks

Another homicide: Thomas Donaldson, 46, was shot and killed on Stonewood Road near his home yesterday.* Cham reports he has a long arrest record, but most of it for open containers.

Police say the man they shot yesterday was trying to run officers over.

Fenton's at the Johnson trial for Day 3, and one salient deet: Deana testified that a 35-gallon storage bin was missing from her apartment. (my question, seems like there is a ton of incriminating evidence against this guy, so why did it take so long for the state to bring charges?)

Justin Fenton ‏@justin_fenton

Day 3 of testimony.There was some type of exchange between Phylicia's mother's husband & her father, &judge threatened to throw them in jail

Defendant's brother was asked if he recalled searching online for info on cell phone GPS data day after Phylicia went missing; he said no

Throughout trial, there's been multiple references to witnesses testifying before a Harford Co grand jury, at least as far back as Nov 2011

Why is someone (or someones) vandalizing the Mount Carmel Baptist Church?

The Brew profiles recently arrested activist Kim Trueheart. (LOL, SRB = "dictatorial Princess of BMore Poli-Tricks") She's due in court tomorrow.

Rikki Spector wants to ban panhandling in median strips

Up in Altoona, PA, a bar manager is accused of managing a Baltimore-to-Altoona cocaine caravan. Also, in case you were wondering, the Altoona Mirror tells you how to make crack.

Misconduct Monday

Speaking of Gregg Bernstein, not long after the Hitler post, he made an appearance on* the Larry Young show on WOLB 1010 AM (have other people heard of this station?) to defend his decision to not pursue any charges against Detective Todd Strohman, the one who tackled Anthony Anderson, causing his death. Bernstein said that the ME found that Anderson had a pre-existing enlarged spleen, which is interesting because the autopsy report doesn't mention that at all and lists his primary cause of death as from torso injuries. Also interesting, Bernstein apparently agreed with a caller that the war on drugs is "not working," but apparently didn't explain why, then, his office still prosecutes them.

An officer shot a man tonight who he believed was concealing a gun*-- the man is in serious condition and the gun apparently has not been found. Fenton Tweets it's the second police-involved shooting since Friday night.

And finally in misconduct news, the Board of Estimates is fixing to pay out $270,000 in settlements, on top of the $10.4 million paid out in the previous three years.

... and here's a link to the full Fenton Phylicia Barnes* court case report of the day, and a bonus douchey detail:

Justin Fenton ‏@justin_fenton

Deena testifies that when [Michael Johnson] came over the night Phylicia disappeared, he said he was concerned for himself since he was last to see her

Really?! Really.

So this past weekend on the Facebooks, a Friend of MacArthur David Anthony Wiggins commemorated European Holocaust Remembrance Day by posting a picture of Gregg Bernstein with a photoshopped Hitler moustache, and, in case one of the group's 500+ followers might have missed the point, declaring him the titular "Adolf Hitler of Baltimore City."

Blog help us, we try to ignore the infinite amount of ignorant things stupid people things post on the Internet, but sometimes stupid is so stupid it's stupefying. Does this Wiggins person not realize that a). Bernstein is Jewish or that b). actual Adolph Hitler would not have bothered with the optics and niceties of the judicial system and just had people shot on the spot? What has our education system come to? Not only have people apparently forgotten to remember to not forget the Holocaust, more than a few also apparently never got clue one about what the heck it was in the first place. 

Here, have a story about the time a decorated general disagreed with Hitler and was forced to commit suicide. And, y'know, Stalin and Mao both killed more people than Hitler, why doesn't anyone ever get to be the Mao a/o Stalin of Baltimore City? Or the Franco, Mussolini or Staatssicherheit? Come on people, up ya game!

Fathers, sisters, uncles of the year

A homicide, one Terry Williams was shot to death in the 400 block of Parksley Ave., Cham reports this is the city's 11th homicide of 2013.

Deana Barnes testified today* about being unable to reach Michael Johnson because his phone was off on the day Phylicia disappeared, Johnson's contradictory statements about when he last saw her, and about the video of drunken streaking that was apparently shown to the jury (but not the gallery of spectators). On Friday James McCray testified that Johnson had asked for his advice and help moving Phylicia's body.

Article in the NYT this weekend about new legal inroads towards restitution for child-pornography victims, and online has the story behind the story. Also in the NYT magazine: glorification of our fair city's illegal dirtbiking scene (so exotic!).

Patch crime blotters: a Chesapeake High student robbed by classmates, two Montgomery Ward freezers stolen and a cuckold threatened with a sword.

Homicide arrests in an AAC murder include a father-daughter team.

They said you'd have to be on crack to try to sell a slice of pie for $7, and unfortunately they were right.  One of the owners of Dangerously Delicious pies, Joey Belcher, died a mysterious and likely drug-and-alcohol-related death last month. The edgy pie chain is now down to one Baltimore location, in Canton.

The defense rested Friday in the Leopold case, with an orthopedic surgeon testifying that Leopold needed a catheter and was in horrible pain with deteriorated discs and leaking spinal fluid. Let that be a lesson to you, kids: two mistresses is too many.