Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
The city of Baltimore will not soon forget 2013. A year that started out on such a high note for the city with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl quickly went the opposite direction in months that followed. During the spring and summer Baltimore was in and out of national headlines due to a large-scale jailhouse corruption ring. And in the last few months the city has witnessed a major uptick in gang related violent crime and homicide. From the middle of October to the middle of November there were a staggering 29 murders. The city has responded by enacting a new 5-year anti crime policy that was made public by the police commissioner and the mayor one week before the Thanksgiving holiday. The plan, which is laid out in a 192-page report, will shift the majority of law enforcement focus to gangs, guns, and repeat violent offenders. Although specific tactics and techniques were not fully explained, officials expect that improvements in intelligence gathering and cooperation with other law enforcement agencies will make for more effective policing. Unfortunately though for the citizens of Baltimore press releases and hundred page reports will not suppress crime automatically. Only officers out on the streets can accomplish this goal, but a shortage of qualified officers may prove to be a challenging hurdle.
Continue reading →
Published on:
Baltimore Faces Officer Shortage As Crime Rises
Anne Arundel County Police reported that four people have been arrested in an attempted copper heist in Odenton. Cops were called at around midnight when an assisted living home employee noticed two men running across the home’s property carrying cable. Police arrived as the getaway car was leaving the scene, and were able to stop the car and apprehend the two men. Cops also found another man and a woman in the car. All four thieves, who range in age from 24 to 32, were arrested after 250 feet of copper cable along with tree trimmers were found in their possession. Each member of the group has been charged with malicious destruction of property and theft. One of the crew was also charged with making a false statement to a police officer and using a fake identification to avoid prosecution. This same individual was also arrested on a probation violation. This incident was more than just a run of the mill theft gone wrong. As a direct result of the crew’s actions more than 1,700 residents temporarily lost electricity. The thieves did not actually cut through live wires, but the wires they did cut fell onto live wires, which were severed. BGE was able to restore power that same night.
The Blog posted numerous articles on the progress of marijuana legislation during this past legislative session. There were progressive ideas thrown around in the Senate and the House, but neither legalization nor decriminalization bills passed the General Assembly. The only bill to cross the governor’s desk last spring was the complex medical marijuana law that will not be functional for a few years, if ever. The Medical Marijuana Commission, which was established by lawmakers to oversee the program, has met three times to hammer out the details of how to get legal pot to patients in need. But little progress has been made and no resolution is in sight. At this point there are simply too many hurdles to get the program off and running. Readers will recall that the medical marijuana law only authorizes academic medical facilities or hospitals to run the program, but the two largest of these facilities, Hopkins and University of Maryland, want no part of it. There is also an issue with how the hospitals that choose to participate would get their supply of pot. The law allows the hospitals to buy from the federal government, which would be great if the federal government was selling. And they’re not. State licensed pot growers would also be allowed to sell to the hospitals, but at this point there are none. It’s clear that a Maryland resident will not be able to acquire legal pot anytime in the near future; that is unless a more progressive law passes the General Assembly next year. One politician with aspirations to be the next governor has recently publicized her desire for this to happen.
Bank robbery one of the oldest and most glamorized crimes in America. It’s the storyline behind countless novels, Hollywood dramas, and folklore heroes such as Billy the Kid, and Bonnie and Clyde. But now bank robbery is quickly becoming one of the more common violent crimes in Maryland, and those who have noticed more of these stories appearing in the local news are on to something. According to the FBI there were 86 total bank robberies statewide in 2012, and as of last month there were already 98 in 2013. The majority of these heists are actually successful, but law enforcement eventually catches up to the offenders, especially those who hit the same bank multiple times. And if you think it’s rare for a seasoned thief to rob the same bank over and over, think again. It has been a widely used strategy by many thieves to choose a vulnerable establishment and strike multiple times. These vulnerable banks are typically in more rural areas, where crime rates are low and so is the security. In addition, the culprits are often residents of the areas where these banks are located, and if they aren’t residents they are highly familiar with the surroundings. For an example see the case of the former Anne Arundel County schoolteacher who was arrested last month for three Glen Burnie robberies, two of which were at the same bank.
There is still a great deal of confusion regarding our state marijuana laws, and rightly so. Maryland is one of a few states that have not taken a hardline stance one way or the other on the topic. Maybe it’s because we have a governor with national political aspirations who doesn’t want to show his hand this early in the game. Or maybe the onus falls on the lawmakers in Annapolis who just cannot seem to agree about the direction our laws are headed. We take calls all the time from prospective clients and those who just want to gain an understanding of the current drug statutes. Hopefully this post will paint a clearer picture of the confusing work our elected officials have done in the past few years.
Back in March the FBI and the United States Attorney announced the guilty plea of a Baltimore City Cop to numerous felony charges. The guilty plea, while not shocking to those of us familiar with big city law enforcement, landed the Baltimore Police Department in national news headlines. As a criminal defense law firm, we hear stories all the time about police misconduct and corruption. But theses stories rarely reach the public’s ears because the incidents often end up being a cop’s word against a criminal defendant’s. But it certain cases, usually when the corrupt cops become too brash and greedy, they are caught in the act and plastered on newspapers and television. These stories offer little or no vindication for those that have been wronged by police, but it is nice to be reminded once in a while that nobody is above the law. The 36 year old city cop who plead guilty to drug conspiracy, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime back in March is no exception.
The Blog has posted multiple articles about our state’s gun laws in the past few weeks as Maryland’s controversial gun laws just cannot seem to stay out of the news. This week was no different, with another headline courtesy of the United States Supreme Court. The Court recently announced that it would not hear argument on the statewide firearm carry permit law, which was upheld by U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District this past year. The challenge to the law began when a gun owner from Baltimore had his concealed carry application denied because he could not prove to the state that he had a “good and substantial reason” for the license. This was despite the fact that the man’s house had been burglarized multiple times. The gun owner filed suit in federal district court, and was joined by The Second Amendment foundation, an organization that opposes firearm restrictions. The district court judge agreed that the law was too restrictive and vague, and found it unconstitutional. But the victory was short lived for plaintiffs after the Appellate court reversed and held that the law could stand. Both parties were confident that the Supreme Court would settle the issue for good (and in their respective favor), but it wasn’t to be as the Court decided the 4th Circuit would have the final say.
In the past month the Blog has posted an article about crime in the NFL, and another article about stiffer gun laws in Maryland becoming effective. Coincidently, this past week a story broke that combines these two issues; the NFL has now adopted a stiffer gun policy. As of this past Sunday, off duty police officers are no longer allowed to carry their firearms into NFL stadiums on gameday. The policy had previously allowed off duty cops to carry their weapons into the stadiums provided they used a special entrance, and notify NFL security of their seat location. The league did not provide specific reasons for instituting this new policy midway through the season, and police unions and law enforcement officers around the country have expressed widespread frustration about the change. In some cases this new rule directly contradicts police department policy and even state law.
Baltimore County Police and the State’s Attorney recently reported that a Towson based lawyer has been indicted on two drug charges. The indictment, which was unsealed last week, charges the criminal defense lawyer with two controlled dangerous substance violations including possession with intent to distribute and simple possession. The type of drug at the root of these charges is the prescription painkiller Oxycodone. Oxycodone is a commonly abused narcotic that can be swallowed, snorted, or melted down to liquid form and injected. The indictment alleges that the defense attorney conspired with her 20-year old son, her legal assistant, and six other co-defendants to distribute drugs throughout the area, but county police did not release any specific details about the scale of the operation. Police did however release information hinting that more charges may be on the way.