Circuit Judge

In her three decades as a prosecutor, S. Ann Brobst has gone after every kind of criminal - murderers, rapists, con artists, thieves - and, more often than not, she's thrown the book at them. Now, in her judicial robes, she's aiming for more magnanimity. "Most people are not evil," said Brobst, 56, who was sworn in Wednesday as a Baltimore County circuit judge. In many cases, she said, defendants charged with crimes "just messed up." Others, of course, were accused of unspeakable acts, and Brobst's job as the county's lead prosecutor of felonies was, as she puts it, "to do justice" for both victims and perpetrators.

George Bacon Rasin Jr., former Kent County Circuit Court judge who led a movement to modernize juvenile justice in Maryland, died of congestive heart failure Friday at the Edenwald Retirement Community in Towson. He was 94. "Judge Rasin was widely known and respected for his integrity, knowledge of the law and absolute fairness," said retired Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge John Fader, who was a friend. "He was a man who ran a very tight ship. " Born in Worton in Kent County, he was a 1937 graduate of Washington College and earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. After enlisting in the Army in September 1941, he was assigned as a special agent to the Counter-Intelligence Corps in the Division of Military Intelligence.

Judge August Owen "Gus" Hennegan, a former Towson lawyer appointed to the Baltimore County Circuit Court by Gov. Harry R. Hughes, died of cancer Thursday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 82. "Gus was the best of the best. He had a fantastic personality, knew the law, and no case was too difficult for him to tackle. Anything you gave him, he could handle, and he did it all perfectly," said retired Baltimore County Circuit Judge John F. Fader II. "He was everything a lawyer and a judge should be, and was as well-thought of a human being as I've ever met."

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced the appointment of seven new circuit court judges Wednesday, including a woman whose promotion makes her the first judge of Asian descent at that level. "The appointment of judges is one of the most important responsibilities of any chief executive," O'Malley said in a statement, describing his selections as "highly qualified, talented and diverse. " Two judges, including Jeannie J. Hong, were appointed for the city. Hong, who is one of two Asian Pacific-American judges in Maryland, has served at the District Court level in Baltimore for nine years, most recently as its judge in charge.

Howard County Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr. was admitted to Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore yesterday after feeling chest pain this weekend, court officials said. Kane, the chief administrative judge for Howard County Circuit Court, is undergoing medical tests on his heart at Union Memorial and could be out for several weeks depending on test results, the officials said. Kane, 61, has been serving on the Howard County Circuit Court bench since 1982 and has been the administrative judge since 1991.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Robert H. Heller Jr. will retire by the end of June, creating a fourth vacancy on the 10-judge bench and giving Gov. Parris N. Glendening the opportunity to have chosen all of its judges. Speculation that Heller, a judge for 18 years, would retire when he turned 60 on March 8 had been rampant for months, even after he told the governor last summer that he wished to be reappointed for a second 15-year term. During a February vacation "it started to feel right to me that the time was now," he said.

Taking a rare step, the state Commission on Judicial Disabilities has issued a public reprimand to Baltimore Circuit Judge John N. Prevas, one of the longest-serving members of the bench. Also yesterday, the commission canceled a public hearing on Prince George's County District Judge Richard A. Palumbo, who retired last week amid controversy about his comments to a domestic violence victim who was later severely burned by a man from whom she had been seeking a protective order. The commission investigated and held a public hearing in June on the Prevas matter.

Howard County Circuit Judge Raymond J. Kane Jr. underwent heart surgery yesterday at a Baltimore hospital and could be out of the courthouse recuperating for nearly three months, court officials said. Kane, 61, was listed in critical but stable condition last night at Union Memorial Hospital after heart bypass surgery. The usual recovery time for bypass surgery is eight to 12 weeks. Kane entered Howard County General Hospital early Monday complaining of chest pains, and was transferred that afternoon to Union Memorial for tests.

Harford Circuit Judge Cypert O. Whitfill has stepped down from a custody case involving a woman who took her daughter into hiding in Kentucky to avoid contact with the child's father.Last week, Whitfillconfirmed that he has removed himself from the sealed case and turned it over to Circuit Judge Maurice W. Baldwin Jr."I have no comment," said Whitfill last week. "I just decided to let Judge Baldwin handle it for a while."Now that a new judge is scheduled to hear her case, the woman says she hopes the court will see a different perspective on her plight as a mother who has tried toprotect her 5-year-old daughter by taking the child into hiding.

Samuel W. H. Meloy, a former Prince George's County Circuit judge and recently retired head of the agency that settles disputes over land acquisition for the Washington Metro system, died Friday after a long battle with liver cancer at his home in Davidsonville. He was 78."He was very caring and strong, always able to cope with things," said his son, William Stephen Meloy of Annapolis. "He never believed that God gave him more to deal with than he could bear, and he took it one day at a time."

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, the Baltimore actress who played a ruthless hitwoman on HBO's "The Wire," pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to drug conspiracy charges and requested a trial by jury, tentatively set for Aug. 9. Pearson, who appeared in Baltimore Circuit Court dressed in an oversized black polo shirt and baggy jeans, declined to comment Tuesday, saying she would talk "as soon as the case is over with. " She's "letting the lawyers take care of the legal issues and she's doing what she needs to do professionally," her attorney, Benjamin Sutley, said after the arraignment.

Howard County Circuit Judge Diane O. Leasure, a former middle school teacher in New Jersey who became one of the most respected arbiters in Maryland, said Tuesday that she plans to retire from the bench when her 15-year term ends in November. Leasure, 58, will become a senior judicial fellow and lecturer at the University of Maryland law school, where she has been an adjunct professor for the past four years. She also hopes for Court of Appeals approval to serve as a recall judge around the state, and to become involved in private mediation and arbitration.

John N. Prevas, the chief judge of the Baltimore Circuit Court, died Monday evening after being taken to Mercy Hospital earlier in the day by an aide, according to Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department. The 63-year-old judge was born in Baltimore, and graduated from City College before earning a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University and a law degree from the University of Maryland. He was an assistant state's attorney in Baltimore from 1972 to 1986 when he was named to the bench.

Judge Robert E. Cadigan Sr., a retired Baltimore County Circuit judge who was a student of the Civil War, died Thursday of cancer at his home in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 75. "He was one of my very best friends," James T. Smith Jr., Baltimore County executive, said Monday. "He was an outstanding lawyer and loved being appointed to the bench. He considered it the pinnacle of his career, and he appreciated the opportunity. " Retired Baltimore County Circuit Judge J. Norris Byrnes was a longtime friend and shared chambers with Judge Cadigan for years.

A circuit judge dismissed Friday an attempt to revive a failed petition drive that would have let voters decide in November whether to confirm County Council approval of rezoning for downtown Columbia. Judge Richard S. Bernhardt granted a motion from the county elections board to dismiss the case, on grounds that the group Taxpayers Against Giveaways never submitted a required memorandum explaining its legal arguments despite months of notice. As a result, county elections attorney Mike Molinaro said, he had nothing to respond to with early voting in the election less than two months off. "We're at a loss.

A Baltimore County circuit judge reacted with skepticism yesterday to claims by opponents of the UMBC Research Park that county officials acted illegally when they approved the 41-acre project on a corner of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus."

Retired Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Matthew S. Evans Sr., who was praised for his evenhandedness and courteousness, died Sunday of Parkinson's disease at Ginger Cove Life Care Center in Annapolis. He was 92.Judge Evans was first elected to a 15-year term in 1956 -- he had won the primary by 300 votes. He subsequently became the county's administrative judge and then administrative judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which includes Anne Arundel, Howard and Carroll counties. He retired in 1977.