Trial of 6 teens charged in bus attack gets under way
The trial of six of the nine middle school students charged in the December attack of a woman and her boyfriend on a city bus began yesterday in juvenile court with attorneys arguing whether statements the teenagers made to police are admissible.
The defense lawyers want to exclude from the adjudicatory hearing -- the equivalent of a trial in juvenile court -- statements the young suspects made to Maryland Transit Administration Police on the day of the beating. They also want to exclude witness identifications made at the scene in Hampden and, in some instances, from a photo lineup.
During the hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Janet Hankin played snippets of the teens' tape-recorded statements, one of which involved Detective Margaret Fleming telling a 15-year-old suspect that she faced "adult charges" and 10 years in prison on assault charges.
Fleming admitted lying to the girl but said she did so "for a reason." She said she wanted the teenager to tell her who kicked victim Sarah Kreager in the face.
The audio recording of the statement was very poor, making it difficult for people in the gallery, who did not have access to transcripts, to understand what was being said. At various points, the girl said, "The lady started the fight," that she "spit" in her face and that Kreager's boyfriend had a knife. Later in the interrogation, however, the teenager could not give a description of the knife, including its color.
The state has agreed to drop charges against the remaining three suspects as long as they perform community service between now and their adjudicatory hearings, which have been postponed.
Melissa Harris
Baltimore
: Health chief
Store told to pull toy high in lead paint
The city's health commissioner ordered a Rite Aid store in South Baltimore yesterday to stop selling a LinkIts toy that consists of a strand of green beads that tested high in lead paint content, according to a statement from his office.
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein said that the children's jewelry was discovered in a spot check of the Rite Aid in the Southside Shopping Center in the 900 block of E. Fort Ave. He said the item contained 1,597 parts per million of lead, exceeding the city's limit of 600 parts per million.
