Maryland Law Blog

In examining possible reasons for why crime has showed a decrease in Maryland, a baltimoresun.com article reflects how the Division of Parole and Probation has paid more attention to known violent and sexual offenders. In this regard, “paying more attention” refers to assigning all sex offenders to specially trained agents, placing those offenders under required and strict probationary terms, and then monitoring them via GPS. In fact, every sex offender is placed on GPS monitoring for 90 days, during which time he or she is subject to harsh curfews and restricted movements.

Violent offenders are placed in the Violence Prevention Initiative and, along with sex offenders, are closely marked for violations. Based on the article, as of January 2010 and since the Parole and Probation has been implementing GPS monitoring of sex offenders beginning in February 2009, 231 sex offenders and 1,300 total offenders have been placed on GPS monitoring.

Anyone who has been convicted of a sex crime in Bethesda or who is facing such charges should be aware that many administrators are sponsoring a bill that would require courts to impose lifetime supervision on certain sex offenders. It is their belief that doing this would guarantee that offenders released into the community are properly monitored and more easily subject to incarceration for violations of strict conditions.

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Posted In: Criminal Defense , Law & Information , Sex Crime

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According to a baltimoresun.com article, prostitution charges have been dropped against a man from Patterson Park, Maryland due to insufficient evidence. Apparently, two women accused of being prostitutes refused to testify against the defendant. Since no other witnesses were available, and due to additional information and evidence not being strong enough to stand on its own without witness testimony, the charges were dropped. In relation to this case, the Assistant State’s Attorney stated, “The evidence was insufficient to proceed with the charges.”

In the beginning, the man’s case was introduced to the public as one that was full of insurmountable evidence. Such claims can make the public quickly forget that all people are innocent until proven guilty. This particular situation serves as a reminder that just because a person is arrested for a particular crime, it does not mean that they committed any illegal action.

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Posted In: Criminal Defense , Law & Information , Sex Crime

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A story from baltimoresun.com reported that a former Catholic priest faces child sexual abuse charges for alleged acts that took place over 30 years ago in Ocean City. The accused 64-year-old man is from North Carolina, which is the location where he has been arrested and where he is being held. According to the report, law enforcement received a complaint of the sexual assault this past spring regarding incidents that allegedly occurred between the years of 1977 and 1982. A spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests stated that a lawsuit filed against the arrested man in June relates to the same alleged victim who is from Baltimore County and is now in his 40s.

Sex crimes in Maryland, such as indecent exposure, rape, sexual assault, and prostitution, are all very serious offenses that can result in consequences that will forever affect the lives of a convicted individual and his or her family. These cases can be even more complex when allegations are made by children or if the alleged sex offenses are said to have involved child molestation. An accused individual does not need to be a priest to experience the negative affects of societal scorn, which often happens even before a sex crime case goes to trial. Any person charged with a sex crime risks having their reputation tarnished. Although some Maryland residents learning about the recent sexual abuse allegations may wonder if there are other victims whom have kept silent regarding this particular priest, it is important to remember that every person accused of such crimes is innocent until proven guilty.

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The Baltimore Sun reports in an article that the Supreme Court has begun discussion in the Maryland v. Shatzer case. The case relates to a child sexual abuse investigation from 2003, in which a man was questioned about molesting a young relative. He asked for an attorney, but he was not provided one, so the case was dropped. Later in 2006, the investigation began again and the man was again questioned. Even though he confessed to lewd acts with the boy in 2006 and was convicted, an appeals court decided that his confession was inadmissible due to the prior request for an attorney made in 2003.

At the heart of the case is the lack of distinction as to how long the request for an attorney should last when a suspect is being interrogated. Statements made by an accused person may be deemed inadmissible if they are made after requesting an attorney to be present and such statements are made when an attorney is not present. Therefore, as it stands currently, a break in custody, even if that break lasts for years, does not erase a request for an attorney.

According to the report, a Maryland Attorney General believes that allowing the decision to throw out Shatzer’s confession is likely to lead to chaos in police investigations. He stated, “A defendant who invokes anywhere at any time is forever immune from being questioned by the police.”

The main question at hand pertains to whether or not asserting or invoking the right to legal counsel lasts indefinitely, or if the invocation of such rights should have certain limitations, especially if there is a break in custody or a substantial lapse of time in between interrogations.

Continue reading "Supreme Court Addresses Possible Time Limit to Miranda Rights" »

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A wjz.com article reports that five more women are claiming that a well-known rabbi in Baltimore sexually assaulted them or said inappropriate things to them, or committed both acts in some incidents. The 85-year-old rabbi was convicted in April of this year for molesting a woman in a Reisterstown funeral home. He was sentenced to a suspended one-year prison term.

Apparently, it was reported by The Sun that three of the women alleging inappropriate behavior contacted the newspaper and two of the other claims were submitted by other sources. It is interesting that these other five women waited until the rabbi was convicted of a separate sex crime before coming forward with their own allegations.

It has not yet been determined as to how these allegations will be presented in a court of law and what proceedings will take place. Even so, such accusations of sexual touching and verbal harassment should not be taken lightly by those making such claims or by the person being accused. In this particular case, the rabbi’s suspended one-year prison term may be compromised if he is convicted of committing more offenses than were originally revealed. The report did not mention whether these other alleged assaults took place before, during, or after the offense for which he was convicted.

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On May 16, 2009, the Annapolis newspaper, The Capital, published an article about an Annapolis man arrested for his involvement in a rape that occurred on August 26, 2000, in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Annapolis. The State’s Attorney’s Office said that evidence from DNA testing led to the arrest of a 26-year-old man from Annapolis. As law enforcement officials staked out the man’s place of employment to take him into custody, he apparently turned himself in at police headquarters. Charges against him include first-degree rape, first-degree sex offense, first-degree sexual assault, kidnapping, armed robbery, use of a handgun in a crime of violence and related charges not outlined in the article.

If a jury convicts him on all charges, the rape and sex offense convictions could result in life sentences, and the other charges could result in imprisonment for 20 to 30 years each. When the alleged crimes were committed, the accused was under 18 years old and a Maryland sex crime lawyer could appeal to have the case heard in juvenile court. However, under Maryland law, a defendant is automatically charged as an adult if they are older than 16 when the crime allegedly occurred and when they are charged with first-degree rape.

The Maryland sex crime charges allege that the accused approached the victim, who was then 39 years old, as she got out of her car. He allegedly first threatened her with a handgun and robbed around $30. According to local police officials, he then ordered the woman to go to the rear of a nearby home, ordered her to remove her clothes, and then raped her. After the man fled the scene, the woman went to her home, told a family member about the attack and called the police.

The chief investigator in the State’s Attorney’s office said that the DNA evidence connected with the Maryland sexual assault was resubmitted to Maryland State police officials in November 2007 as that agency received grant money to hire a private company to help clear the huge backlog in DNA evidence analysis.

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