Every Tuesday and Thursday, one Ellicott City courtroom is jammed with convicted criminals looking for a third chance. They are charged with violating probation, a mistake that can jeopardize their second chance of avoiding jail. Most will leave with a lecture from the judge and a stern warning not to come back again -- or else.
There are more violations of probation -- VOPs, as they are called by lawyers -- than any other kind of cases on criminal dockets in Howard Circuit Court and circuit courts across the state.
Some defense attorneys say that's because judges place too many conditions on defendants' probations and that the time on probation is too long. But probation officers, called agents, complain that offenders flout the law and rarely are punished.
It's an imperfect system that hasn't changed much over the years.
David R. Comer is among those who went astray. In many ways, his case exemplifies the benefits and problems of probation.
The 23-year-old Baltimore County man was charged with driving while intoxicated after being stopped for going 30 mph faster than the speed limit in the 6200 block of Montgomery Road on Jan. 2, 1993. Riding shotgun was an open 40-ounce bottle of beer, according to court records.
Two years later, Mr. Comer was sentenced in Howard County to three years of probation. He was required to report to an alcohol program in Baltimore County, attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week for 20 weeks and have the Motor Vehicle Administration place an alcohol restriction on his license.
One Tuesday last month, his was among the 65 cases -- most of them VOPs -- on Judge James B. Dudley's crowded docket. The probation agent, Carolyn Harrison, brought a list of Mr. Comer's transgressions to the judge.
She said he failed to report to her as required, and that he forged documents to make it appear that he attended AA meetings he missed in March, April and May.
Although Mr. Comer pleaded guilty to violation of probation, his lawyer, Leonard H. Shapiro, told the judge it was difficult for his client to attend AA meetings because he was depressed over losing custody of his daughter.
"He really just couldn't bear to sit there and listen to family woes when he was going through it himself," Mr. Shapiro said as Mr. Comer stood quietly.
