Thursday, May 2, 2013
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger and Del. Neil Parrott are scheduled to make an announcement Friday morning.
Two elected officials Friday are expected to make an announcement related to a possible effort to overturn Maryland's repeal of the death penalty -- a measure signed into law this week by Gov. Martin O'Malley. Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, and Washington County Republican Del. Neil Parrott are expected to make an announcement related to an effort to place the issue on the 2014 ballot as a referendum question. Parrott runs the website MDPetitions.com, which was responsible for placing laws such as the state's recognition of same sex marriage on the 2012 ballot. Shellenberger testified against the repeal of the death penalty during hearings in Annapolis earlier this year. A March poll released by the …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
A phone call tip allowed the editor to score big with internet gambling parlor raid.
Last May I wrote about winning $7.75 in less than 15 minutes at a now-closed Internet Sweepstakes parlor on East Drive in Arbutus. “It’s definitely gambling,” said Kathryn Rowe, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland. “It’s illegal." When I asked county police and the State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger about enforcement back in May, I got their best poker faces. "I haven't received any citizen complaints," Shellenberger said at the time. "Until somebody brings us a complaint, we won't take any action." "We're waiting for legal opinions from the state's attorney," police spokeswoman Cpl. Cathleen Batton said in May. During a Wednesday morning Patch meeting, I received a call from John Cox, Deputy State's Attorney for the …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Chief Justice John Roberts stays Maryland Court of Appeals ruling striking down the collection of DNA samples from people arrested for felonies.
UPDATED (6:21 p.m.)—Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said a Supreme Court order Wednesday will not result in the immediate resumption of collecting DNA samples from people arrested for certain crimes. "I'm not prepared to tell county police to start collecting DNA from arrestees," Shellenberger said. "I think we need something a little more solid before we start changing procedures." Chief Justice John Roberts' order stayed an April Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that barred law enforcement from collecting DNA samples from people arrested and charged with felonies. The Court of Appeals made the 5-2 ruling in the case of Alonzo King who was arrested in 2009. Wicomico County collected King's DNA at the time of his …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Charges against off-duty Baltimore County police officer aren't enough, says mother of Christopher Brown.
The mother of a slain Randallstown teen is calling for a federal civil rights investigation into the June 13 death of her son. Chris Brown, mother of Christopher Brown, said in an interview Thursday that she plans to ask the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice to review the actions of the Baltimore County Police Department and State's Attorney's office. "I want to take this out of the hands of the Baltimore County Police Department and the state's attorney's hands," said Chris Brown. "I'm trying to take this to the federal level." Christopher Brown died June 13 of asphyxiation, according to police, citing a state medical examiner's report. James Laboard, an off-duty police officer, was indicted Wednesday on two counts of manslaughter by…
Thursday, April 26, 2012
21 people have been arrested for smuggling untaxed cigarettes in Baltimore County so far this year.
Cigarette smuggling in Maryland is on the rise, according to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot. "We've got an epidemic of this smuggling in our state," Franchot said during a Thursday news conference in Towson with Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger. Police confiscated 10,000 packs of alleged contraband cigarettes during a traffic stop near White Marsh. More than 3,100 packs were seized in a stop involving a Honda Accord two weeks ago. The state comptroller said his office has prosecuted more cases of cigarette smuggling "in the last nine months than we have in the previous five years." In Baltimore County, there have been 20 formal cigarette smuggling investigations since mid-2006 resulting in the arrest of 28 …
Friday, March 23, 2012
Prosecutor says additional charges are expected.
A 45-year-old Owings Mills man find himself charged with felony theft and other crimes in a 46-count indictment and a county prosecutor said more charges are likely. Rodney Getlan was charged Thursday in Baltimore County Circuit Court with felony theft, mortgage fraud, operating as a credit service without a license and other related charges. He's being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center in lieu of $500,000 bail. Getlan is accused of stealing mortgage payments from nine customers of a loan modification business he ran between January 2009 and January 2012, according to court records. The alleged thefts resulted in two homeowners losing their homes to foreclosures. During that time, Getlan is alleged to have told the customers …
Christopher Kidwell
1:35 pm on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Exactly right. Our 'system of justice', what some people call a 'system of just-us' (pointing out the numerous inequities of our system) is not fool-proof in the slightest. We have documented cases of people being put on death row or even being executed for crimes that they did not commit. When that is the case, it's well past time to get rid of the death penalty and realize that until we have … more ›