Bail Hearing

A Howard County district judge postponed yesterday the bail hearing of a 27-year-old Hyattsville man accused of strangling a Silver Spring acquaintance in a Jessup motel.Judge Louis Becker, communicating with the suspect through a Spanish interpreter, permitted public defender Jane McGough extra time to consult with the man, Marcos Olvera Ramirez. The hearing could be rescheduled for today.Mr. Ramirez is being held without bail at the Howard County Detention Center in Jessup. He is charged with killing Shelton Woodrow Thigpen, 74, of the 8100 block of Piney Branch Road at the Cedar Motel in the 8000 block of U.S. 1 shortly after midnight June 23.Police said the victim's car was found abandoned in a Hyattsville neighborhood.

Frank James MacArthur, the blogger known as the Baltimore Spectator, could go on trial in May after pleading not guilty Monday to gun and resisting-arrest charges that have kept him in jail for months. MacArthur is accused in connection with a December standoff as Baltimore police tried to arrest him on a probation violation charge. During the standoff, MacArthur protested his arrest on an online radio station and live-streamed his telephone discussions with a police negotiator over the Internet.

A bail hearing was set today for a man accused of fatally stabbing another man during "a heated argument" over a woman, a police spokesman said.The argument broke out shortly before 11 a.m. yesterday at the home of the unidentified woman in the 800 block of N. Stricker St., police said.During the argument, Orlando Spence, 25, of the 5300 block of Lantern Court, was stabbed in the right groin, left side and abdomen, said Dennis Hill, police spokesman. Spence died en route to University of Maryland Medical Center, Hill said.

Robert W. Gladden Jr. "expected to be killed" on the day he allegedly shot a fellow student at Perry Hall High School, according to his lawyers, who said the teen remains on suicide watch in jail. The comments came on the day of the 15-year-old Gladden's first court appearance since the incident; his morning bail hearing was postponed after his attorneys requested more time to secure and examine recent mental health evaluations. Gladden did not speak in court, but kept his head down, letting his long dark hair hang in his face.

A bail hearing is scheduled today in Upper Marlboro for an 18-year-old Washington man charged with raping a University of Maryland student in her College Park dormitory room, authorities said.The suspect, identified by campus police as David Earl Williams, was arrested before dawn Friday after the student told campus police she had been raped in her room in La Plata Hall.A 16-year-old boy accompanying the suspect also was taken into custody but was later released without being charged. Mr. Williams, who is not a university student, was being held without bond yesterday at the Prince George's County Detention Center, police said.

A Carroll County man charged in the rape -- and, because he has the AIDS virus, assault with intent to murder -- of his two step-grandsons was unfairly denied bail by a Carroll County judge, the state's second-highest court has ruled.In a brief opinion filed earlier this month, the Court of Special Appeals said that Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. "abused his discretion" in November by declining to review the $100,000 bail set earlier by District Judge Joann Ellinghaus-Jones.In declining to change the bail amount -- which was related only to allegations involving one of the step-grandchildren -- Judge Burns said, "Well, I find it difficult for me to reverse what Judge Jones has done, in light of my past relationship with Judge Jones."

A bail hearing in Eastside District Court was set today for a 14-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a 47-year-old woman Tuesday night, police said.In a separate incident, a man who was shot twice at Luzerne Avenue and Hoffman Street in East Baltimore died shortly after 1 a.m. today, becoming the city's 20th murder victim of 1992, police said.The 14-year-old boy, a resident of the 800 block of E. Chase St., was interviewed last evening at police headquarters after homicide detectives investigating the slaying of Mary Maza Jackson, of the 1000 block of Wilmot Court, received information about him as a possible suspect in the case.

A Jamaican man faced a bail hearing in city District Court today on charges related to the firebombing of an East Baltimore rowhouse that resulted in the deaths of two children and injured a 38-year-old man last week.Renford Augustus Martin, 32, of the 2200 block of Mura St., was picked up by city homicide detectives about 7:30 a.m. yesterday inside a house in the 4900 block of Todd Ave.After questioning, Martin was charged about 7 p.m. with two counts of homicide by arson, one count of attempted murder by arson and arson in connection with the firebombing last Friday.

ATLANTA -- Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and two acquaintances were indicted yesterday on murder and assault charges, and the city's top prosecutor insisted Lewis "participated in the crime" that left two dead after a fight that spilled over from a Super Bowl party last month. The grand jury indictments charge Lewis and his two acquaintances each with two counts of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The indictments against the 24-year-old star football player dashed his lawyers' hopes that the case would quickly crumble under what they say is scant and inaccurate evidence.

Frank James MacArthur, the blogger known as the Baltimore Spectator, could go on trial in May after pleading not guilty Monday to gun and resisting-arrest charges that have kept him in jail for months. MacArthur is accused in connection with a December standoff as Baltimore police tried to arrest him on a probation violation charge. During the standoff, MacArthur protested his arrest on an online radio station and live-streamed his telephone discussions with a police negotiator over the Internet.

The Maryland General Assembly passed bills this month that effectively reverse a Court of Appeals ruling that would have required public defenders for indigent defendants at thousands of initial bail hearings held before court commissioners each year. The legislation instead requires lawyers for poor people at reviews of those hearings, which occur less frequently and take place in front of a judge — sometimes days later. That means some of those arrested and denied bail or unable to afford it could spend a weekend or longer in jail awaiting representation.

State legislators have drafted emergency bills to reverse a Maryland Court of Appeals order forcing public defenders to attend thousands of bail hearings for indigent defendants held in front of district court commissioners each year, after law enforcement officials complained about the cost. The measures, introduced in the Maryland House and Senate, would amend the state's public defender statute to remove the right to counsel at the commissioner stage, before the high court's mandate takes effect next month.

The Court of Appeals ruling this week calling for indigent defendants to be represented by lawyers at the court commissioner hearings that determine whether they'll be released before trial, granted bail or held in jail was an important step for justice in Maryland. These initial post-arrest proceedings can have profound effects on defendants - most of whom face relatively minor charges that will never go to trial - and on their families and communities. Ultimately, it will also be a good thing for taxpayers.

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the state must provide lawyers to indigent defendants during bail hearings, overturning a long-standing practice under which newly arrested individuals face court commissioners alone — often in private, unrecorded proceedings — to argue for freedom. "Whenever a commissioner determines to set bail, the defendant stands a good chance of losing his or her liberty, even if only for a brief time," the judges wrote. "Furthermore, the likelihood that the commissioner will give full and fair consideration to all facts relevant to the bail determination can only be enhanced by the presence of counsel.

Harford County sheriffs arrested and charged an 18-year-old man Monday morning after two teenagers were shot Sunday afternoon in Edgewood. Keeyan Omar Brooks, 18, of the 400 block of Liberty Circle in Edgewood was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault and other charges this morning, according to police. He is scheduled to have a bail review hearing Monday afternoon. Deputies received a call about 5:20 p.m. Sunday about a shooting in the unit block of Yorkshire Drive, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

Baltimore County District Judge Marshall Alexander took the bench one recent afternoon for bail reviews. But instead of facing a line of suspects in jumpsuits handcuffed and shackled together in front of him, he looked out at two gigantic television screens and a state-of-the-art video camera. Baltimore County has started using a video conference system to conduct bail reviews, beaming live images of suspects from the county jail into the courthouse and vice versa. The new process has consolidated all of the county's bail hearings in a single courtroom in Towson -- instead of three courthouses -- and allows officials with pretrial services to conduct a more thorough review of an inmate's background for the judge who will decide whether to free the suspect.

Attorneys representing three teen-agers charged with raping a 15-year-old girl in a Mount Hebron High School bathroom are hopeful that they will be released today from the Howard County Detention Center, possibly with little or no bond. At a hearing Friday, District Judge Sue-Ellen Hantman denied bail for the three teen-agers, and they have been held at the Howard County Detention Center. This week, the county's Office of Public Defender requested another bail review for the teens, who may be present at today's bail hearing.

A Columbia man asked a Howard County judge for psychiatric help today after being charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old Columbia boy at knifepoint and raping him.Michael David Blum, 26, of the 5700 block of High Tor Hill in the Village of Long Reach, is charged with a first-degree sex offense, kidnapping, assault and a weapons offense in an incident that occurred yesterday afternoon.Howard County police said Blum approached the boy, who was fishing at a pond in Long Reach about 2 o'clock, and asked him a question about fishing.

Baltimore County jail officials plan to institute video conferencing for bail review hearings, saying the technology would save money and police officers' time. The plan has stirred concerns among residents in Towson, who worry that more inmates who post bail would be released from the main detention center in their community instead of from police precincts throughout the county. Currently, many inmates are transported from the county Detention Center in Towson to district courts in Essex and Catonsville to appear before judges for bail reviews.

Maryland is violating the rights of the poor by failing to provide them with taxpayer-funded lawyers at bail hearings, according to a suit filed on their behalf yesterday by a Baltimore law firm. The class action suit filed by Venable LLP targets procedures at the crowded Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Facility but has broader ramifications for jails throughout Maryland, lawyers say. In Maryland, suspects make initial appearances before appointed district court commissioners, who decide whether to set bail, and, if so, how much it should be. No formal legal training is required to become a commissioner.