Appeals

No doubt that making sure only the guilty are executed must be done 100 percent of the time. And as The Sun's editorial ("Double Victims," Feb. 27) opines by quoting Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger saying, "we're as close to infallible as you can be in Maryland now," we should have confidence that the death penalty is meeting the 100 percent standard. Mr. Shellenberger is referring to the revised law passed just two years ago that only allows a death penalty when there is physical evidence, such as DNA, or a videotaped confession.

For Baltimoreans of a certain age, the name "Admiral's Cup" conjures up images of boozy Fells Point nights and dirty bathrooms. The legendary dive bar closed in 2007, reopening last fall under the ownership of Kali's Restaurant Group, the company that oversees Fells Point neighbors Mezze and Kali's Court. Old fans looking to relive their youths at the bar might be disappointed; thanks to a face lift, Admiral's Cup has lost its gritty edge. With a focus on local beer and capable takes on bar-friendly food made with local ingredients, the restaurant feels fresh and current.

The Baltimore entertainment attorney who represented White House state dinner crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi and "The Wire" actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson was disbarred Monday after the state's highest court found he had, among other things, overbilled clients and misused money given to him as a retainer. The Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling that Paul W. Gardner II had violated official standards of conduct for lawyers, and he was ordered to pay court costs. The court ruled Gardner improperly paid his office manager for legal work, though she was not an attorney, and improperly filed a nonimmigrant work visa application, resulting in its being denied.

Maryland's counties and Baltimore face a collective loss of more than $40 million a year and some taxpayers could get refunds if a decision by the state's highest court isn't reversed on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state Court of Appeals ruled in January that Maryland must offer a credit to taxpayers with some types of out-of-state income to offset the local piggyback tax. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler asked the court to reconsider that decision, but it rejected that request last week.

It's a confrontation few people would want to face: The former security guard sat across the table from the employer who had pink-slipped him as they rehashed his firing. At stake was the payout of unemployment benefits. Jobless workers are entitled to benefits if they lost a job through no fault of their own. In this case, the employer claimed that the man was discharged for absenteeism, while the guard admitted that he had missed work partly because of a drinking problem that he has been treated for since he was let go. Maryland had denied unemployment benefits, and the former employee appealed the case last week to a state hearing examiner.

Maryland's highest-ranking judge, Robert M. Bell, likes that his courthouse is dedicated to his predecessor, pointing out that the letters etching Robert C. Murphy's name on the building's exterior are filled in gold paint to make sure even nighttime drivers can see it. As Bell approaches retirement, mandatory when he turns 70 in July, he scoffs at the notion that his name might someday grace a building as well. But then, his name is forever etched in legal history by virtue of the Supreme Court case Bell v. Maryland.

Brendon Ayanbadejo has appealed the $15,000 fine the NFL assessed him for a horse-collar tackle in the Ravens' victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the inside linebacker said he's not optimistic because of the league's emphasis on eliminating horse-collar tackles, which entail a player grabbing and pulling down a ball barrier by either the collar of that player's jersey or shoulder pads. “I'm not [optimistic] because it's a horse-collar [tackle] and however you slice it or dice it, it's a horse-collar [tackle]

Do you think the property tax assessment you recently received is too high? Interested in filing an appeal of your assessment? On Tuesday, Live Baltimore is hosting a session where homeowners who just received assessment notices can learn how to file an appeal. Property owners who would like to contest their new assessment have until Feb. 11 to do so. The workshop will run from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the nonprofit's storefront office, 343 N. Charles St., and an employee of the state's Department of Assessments and Taxation will be on hand to answer questions.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the oil company found responsible for a 26,000-gallon gasoline leak into the groundwater of a northern Baltimore County neighborhood in 2006, filed an appeal Friday of a trial verdict that awarded $150 million to a group of residents affected by the spill. "We agree with the jury's finding that this incident was an unfortunate accident and not a fraudulent or intentional act," said Kevin M. Allexon, a spokesman for the company. "We believe, however, that compensation should be limited to actual harm caused by the spill, and the jury's verdict goes well beyond reasonable compensation.

Maryland's highest court plans to wait until its next term to hear the State Center lawsuit appeal, according to the court's website. The Court of Appeals' term starts on the second Monday of September. In mid-February the court said it would hear the appeal, allowing the case to skip the state's intermediate appellate court. Both sides are interested in having the case resolved as quickly as possible. Here's some background on the case from an earlier Real Estate Wonk post: In January, Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy voided the development contracts that set up a framework for a mixed-use overhaul of a 28-acre site in midtown Baltimore that houses several state agencies.

Manuel M. Nicolaides, an attorney who served for many years on the Baltimore County property tax appeals board, died of congestive heart failure Monday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Timonium resident was 92. "Manny served with distinction for many years on the Baltimore County Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board, including as its chairman," said attorney Peter G. Angelos. "I had the greatest affection for Manny, who was my friend for over half a century. "He was always upbeat, smiling and optimistic.

Saying that "those who made the laws have an obligation to obey them," a District Court judge in Annapolis sentenced state Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. on Tuesday to 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to operating a boat while under the influence. Dwyer, 55, a Republican from Pasadena, immediately filed an appeal. The sentence stems from a powerboat collision last summer on the Magothy River involving Dwyer's boat, the Legislator, and another vessel. Several people were injured in the crash, and toxicology tests showed that Dwyer had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 percent, three times the legal limit for being under the influence.

Four judges and one lawyer have applied for the Court of Appeals seat that will become vacant July 6 when Chief Judge Robert M. Bell reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. The applicants for the judgeship on the state's highest court are Judges Stuart Ross Berger, Albert Joseph Matricciani Jr. and Shirley Marie Watts, all sitting on the Court of Special Appeals; Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge W. Michel Pierson; and Baltimore attorney Mary...

A lawyer for John Joseph Merzbacher, a former Catholic school teacher imprisoned for raping a student decades ago, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case after a federal appeals court rejected an earlier argument that he should be set free. In a 21-page petition, Merzbacher's attorney H. Mark Stichel asks the high court to resolve several legal questions, including whether a defendant's claim that he would have taken a plea deal if offered, even while proclaiming his innocence, demonstrates a "reasonable probability" that he would have followed through.

Baltimore City said Tuesday that it will throw out more than 6,000 speed and red-light camera tickets because its former contractor has stopped showing up in court to defend them - the latest sign of the dysfunction dogging Baltimore's speed camera program. City transportation officials say they lack the evidence to fight the appeals on their own. Voiding the tickets means the city is forgoing the chance to collect more than $300,000 in fines. The announcement comes after judges over the past two weeks dismissed 600 speed camera tickets because city lawyers said they had no evidence.

Some things retain value long after their usefulness is part of history. Pen knives are a case in point. No one, save the occasional Colonial era re-enactor, uses bird quills as writing implements, yet pen knives, the pocket-sized folding blades that made it possible to turn feathers in to pens, are as popular as ever. It's likely there are more homes that own a pen knife or two than homes that don't. They're not necessarily all that useful, but they have a practical appeal. Same goes for gourds.

The state's highest court will review a Baltimore judge's declaration that contracts at the heart of the long-planned State Center redevelopment are void. Maryland's Court of Appeals granted the review on Tuesday. The decision means the case will skip the state's intermediate appellate court. In January, Judge Althea M. Handy voided the development contracts that set up a framework for a mixed-use overhaul of a 28-acre site in midtown Baltimore that houses several state agencies.

Dan Rodricks ' May 1st column ("Pit bulls: Own at your risk") effectively condemns all pit bulls to death. It demonstrates how fear combined with ignorance can lead to prejudice. It's too bad that Mr. Rodricks, who has spent years trying to counteract this phenomenon among others, does not recognize it in himself. Jeanne Bilanin, Baltimore

In addition to an extension of the Homestead Tax Credit application deadline, several other pieces of legislation relevant to homeowners passed both chambers of the General Assembly during the most recent session, which ended earlier this month. Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to sign them -- provided they pass a constitutional review, according to spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. Among the 2013 session housing legislation that is likely to become law: House Bill 235, introduced by Harford County Republican Del. Susan K. McComas, would require the Department of Assessments and Taxation to add five fields of information to the publicly available online database of property tax assessment information.

Maryland's highest-ranking judge, Robert M. Bell, likes that his courthouse is dedicated to his predecessor, pointing out that the letters etching Robert C. Murphy's name on the building's exterior are filled in gold paint to make sure even nighttime drivers can see it. As Bell approaches retirement, mandatory when he turns 70 in July, he scoffs at the notion that his name might someday grace a building as well. But then, his name is forever etched in legal history by virtue of the Supreme Court case Bell v. Maryland.