Overall crime appears to be on the downturn during the coronavirus pandemic, but drug crimes may be falling at especially high levels. The city of Chicago has more yearly crime than many states in America, but over the past month drug arrests have plummeted by 42%. While Baltimore and D.C.…
It has been a little over one month since the governor declared a state of emergency in Maryland due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and multiple executive orders have followed. The most recent order reaffirmed the governor’s decision to close non-essential businesses such as fitness centers, bars, theaters, malls, tanning…
Last week the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals issued an order extending the closure of all state courts to the public through May 1, 2020. Anyone who had a criminal trial set in the Month of April will have their case automatically reset to a later date, likely…
Last week the Baltimore City State’s Attorney made headlines for publicly directing her prosecutors to dismiss numerous non-violent cases. The cases that will be dismissed involve defendants who are arrested on new charges in Baltimore City during these extremely unique times. The charges specifically mentioned by the State’s Attorney include…
On Friday the Chief Judge of Maryland’s highest court signed an administrative order closing all state courthouses to the public for at least the next three weeks. The announcement may have initially been a surprise, but as the impact of the coronavirus continued to unfold it was clear the judiciary…
As the Maryland criminal code continues to evolve with the times there is an increasing need to address the issue of expungement. Maryland has a fair and user-friendly expungement process, and in most cases, there is no fee to apply. Lawmakers already did away with the $30 application fee for…
The notorious former mayor of Baltimore City learned her fate last week in federal court, and will now have to serve three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The 69-year old must also pay over $400,000 in restitution to victims of her crimes, and forfeit almost…
The Maryland governor has not been shy about his strong desire to do whatever is necessary to curb gun violence in Baltimore City, and he recently called out state lawmakers for dragging their feet on enacting stricter gun legislation. Since the 2020 legislative session began in January there have been…
The second of two defendants who committed a 2018 armed robbery in Baltimore City was sentenced last week to 9 years in federal prison. The 29-year old defendant was originally charged in state court with, but about 7 months after the robbery the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office entered the…
Last week a former Baltimore police detective was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release for making false statements to a federal grand jury. The statements were regarding an incident that happened in the spring of 2014, when another BPD officer ran over an…