Three young men, all shy of 20 years and all shackled together, stood before a judge in Baltimore County Circuit Court recently and laughed -- first in giggles, then heartily, almost uncontrollably. Everyone in the courtroom noticed. Everyone was aghast. Even the seen-it-all cops.
One of the defendants was charged with a narcotics offense, another with armed robbery, the third with murdering his 32-year-old stepmother in Middle River. They made their preliminary appearances before Judge Barbara Kerr Howe, who reviewed documents and advised all defendants of their rights.
As she did this, the young men bowed their heads and laughed, sometimes loudly, as if they were sharing a joke no one else got. Or as if they considered themselves untouchable. No one knows why they were laughing.
"No one could believe it," said Assistant State's Attorney Susan Hazlett. "There was nothing obviously funny to any of us. One of them was mugging at the judge, the others laughing. The judge couldn't always see [the laughing defendants] because she had her eyes down most of the time, reading documents. But they were all laughing, and they were all so young."
By the time the hearing ended and deputies escorted the trio toward the courtroom exit, the laughter was coming from some deep, strange place -- belly laughs, loud and long and clear. And chilling.
Boy upstages Newsline
The star of Newsline Night at the National Federation of the Blind was, of course, Newsline, a system that converts %o newspapers into synthetic voice and delivers it through telephone lines to blind people. It's an exciting new on-ramp to the information highway, allowing the nation's blind to "read" newspapers first thing in the morning, the way the rest of us do.
During the black-tie dinner at the NFB headquarters in South Baltimore on Monday night, guests heard a demonstration; a synthesized voice read excerpts of stories fresh from USA Today, one of the first newspapers to agree to participate in the system.
As impressive as Newsline was, a kid in dark glasses and tails almost stole the show.
Jermaine Gardner, a 12-year-old boy, was called to the Yamaha grand in the front of the dining room, then proceeded to dazzle us with performances of classical selections, from Mendelssohn to Beethoven, scherzo to sonata.
