Grand Jury

A man accused of shooting and killing a woman in Long Reach and a man accused in a fatal stabbing in Harper's Choice were indicted Wednesday, Oct. 12 by a Howard County grand jury. Dominique Davon McDonald, 21, of the 9700 block of Clocktower Lane in Columbia, is facing one count each of first-degree murder, using a handgun in a felony violent crime, and possessing a firearm after being convicted of a violent crime. He is accused in the Sept. 12 death of Baltimore-based bail bondswoman Nichole Bernadette McNair in the 8700 block of Hayshed Lane.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for cloudy skies, patchy fog and a chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high temperature near 79 degrees. Monday night is expected to be cloudy, with a low temperature around 67 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... Officer thrown from I-83 sues driver, vehicle owner : The Baltimore police officer who was thrown over the side of Interstate 83 and fell 20 feet after a car crashed into her vehicle as she helped a stranded motorist has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the driver and the owner of the vehicle.

A Baltimore grand jury indicted a 29-year-old woman Monday on attempted murder and seven other charges in connection with the brutal stabbing of her 8-month-old daughter during a supervised visit at a city social services office in April. Kenisha Thomas, who is being held without bail in the incident, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in district court Tuesday, but the indictment will move the felony case into circuit court. An arraignment on the new charges is set for July 17. According to police, Thomas smuggled a large kitchen knife into a Baltimore social services office April 24 and repeatedly stabbed the infant, named Pretty Diamond, in the head and neck as office staff fought back, with one man throwing a chair at her. The baby, who previously was removed from Thomas' care, survived.

A Baltimore grand jury indicted a 29-year-old woman Monday on attempted murder and seven other charges in connection with the brutal stabbing of her 8-month-old daughter during a supervised visit at a city social services office in April. Kenisha Thomas, who is being held without bail in the incident, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in district court Tuesday, but the indictment will move the felony case into circuit court. An arraignment on the new charges is set for July 17. According to police, Thomas smuggled a large kitchen knife into a Baltimore social services office April 24 and repeatedly stabbed the infant, named Pretty Diamond, in the head and neck as office staff fought back, with one man throwing a chair at her. The baby, who previously was removed from Thomas' care, survived.

The cryptic email went out this week to some of the region's news media — including WMAR-TV and The Baltimore Sun — asking journalists to appear before the city's grand jury, which plans to spend the next few months analyzing the impact of crime coverage on efforts to end violence. It's a sort of term project squeezed in between criminal indictments, and a decades-old tradition for the panel. In addition to evaluating state's evidence, the 23 grand jurors in the city also examine a social issue during their four-month tenure and make recommendations for change.

Someone called to testify Wednesday before the grand jury looking into the Ehrlich campaign's deceptive Election Day robocalls tells me Towson attorney Robert B. Green was in the waiting room, offering to consult with any witnesses connected to the campaign. I phoned Green, and his partner, David B. Irwin , took the call. “My firm represents the Bob Ehrlich for Maryland Committee, that's what I can tell you,” said Irwin, a former federal prosecutor and white-collar criminal defense lawyer.

Update: Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, longtime aide Greg Massoni and former elections board chief Gene Raynor were called to testify before the grand jury, according to my source. Chris Cavey, former chairman of the Baltimore County GOP,   just confirmed to me that he also testified. Former Ehrlich communications director Paul Schurick and Joe Sliwka, a former campaign aide, were not called to testify. I misunderstood my source and I regret the error. Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich and a two top aide s testified last week before the grand jury investigating deceptive Election Day robocalls made on behalf of his re-election campaign, a source close to the matter told me Tuesday.

I got a surprising update Friday on the state prosecutor's criminal probe into the Ehrlich campaign's deceptive election-night robocall. The update: They've just subpoenaed someone to testify before a grand jury on the matter later this month. The surprising part: The subpoena was served on that someone right in front of me. He and I were sitting in a cafe Friday morning, chatting about things political but in no way related to Bob Ehrlich, campaign operative Julius Henson or the robocall that falsely assured voters, before the polls closed that November night, that they should "relax," sit back and watch the election on TV because Gov. Martin O'Malley had already won. As we talked, my companion got a call on his cell phone.

The state prosecutor's office began calling witnesses Friday before a grand jury to present evidence in its investigation into Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold's alleged misuse of his security detail during last year's campaign. Three police officers assigned to that detail appeared in county Circuit Court in Annapolis to testify before a grand jury after receiving subpoenas, according to the officers' attorneys, who declined to comment further. The officers, dressed in plainclothes, also declined to comment.

The state prosecutor has empanelled a grand jury to hear testimony about deceptive Election Day robocalls made on behalf of former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. The grand jury will meet this month in Baltimore to hear testimony from at least one person who was subpoenaed Friday but asked not to be identified. It was unclear whether the grand jury has already met. The subpoena and the existence of the grand jury are the first developments to come to light in the case since December, when investigators for the state prosecutor raided the home and office of political operative Julius Henson.

The death of Phylicia Barnes has been added to the city's murder total for 2011, officials said.  The move is merely an administrative issue, though it does bump up the city's first murder count under 200 since the 1970s. Phylicia went missing from Northwest Baltimore in December 2010 and her body was found floating in the Susquehanna River between Harford and Cecil counties in April 2011. State police and Baltimore detectives worked the case together. Last month, authorities charged the ex-boyfriend of Phylicia's older half-sister in her death, indicting him through a grand jury in Baltimore.

There were at least as many police officers as protesters in front of City Hall on Tuesday evening after a group of about 40 people walked there from the site of a planned youth jail in downtown Baltimore. "It's screwed up," said community activist Kim Trueheart of the police presence. "It's a function of not wanting to understand that having a conversation is an important step in healing, solving problems and communicating. " The rally was organized to call attention to the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed African-American who was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer named George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., at the end of February.

Anne Arundel County Police Chief Col. James E. Teare Sr. appeared Monday night before the County Council but declined to answer questions under oath about allegations of misconduct by County Executive John R. Leopold, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. Teare was placed under oath and answered general questions from council members about himself and Police Department rules but told the council he had testified twice before the grand jury investigating Leopold and could not publicly repeat that testimony.

I'm not a gambler so I couldn't care less, but in my opinion the government is wasting a lot of money going after Calvin Ayre and others involved in Internet gambling ("U.S. grand jury in Md. indicts founder of Web gambling site," Feb. 29). Why not legalize and regulate online sports gambling and casino games and reap the billions in taxes it will generate? Seems like a no brainer to me. B. Dukes, Middle River

Sixteen-year-old Robert C. Richardson III was indicted Tuesday on murder charges in the January death of his father. The Harford County Grand Jury indicted the Bel Air teen, who has been held without bond in the Harford County Detention Center. Richardson has been charged with first- and second-degree murder as well as the use of a handgun during the commission of a crime. Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly would say little about the case late Tuesday. "A lot of speculation about a motive has surrounded this case from the outset; [it]

The Anne Arundel County police chief has been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury investigating whether County Executive John R. Leopold misused government resources, sources told The Sun's Nicole Fuller. Col. James E. Teare, Sr., the highest ranking county employee called to testify since the state prosecutor began investigating Leopold's use of his security detail, arrived Thursday morning at the county circuit court in downtown Annapolis and strode through the courthouse wearing his police uniform and shaking hands with acquaintances at about 10:15 a.m. "Whatever I'm able to say, I'll tell you," said Teare, before walking into the state's attorney's office, where the grand jury meets.

A man accused of shooting and killing a woman in Long Reach and a man accused in a fatal stabbing in Harper's Choice were indicted Wednesday, Oct. 12 by a Howard County grand jury. Dominique Davon McDonald, 21, of the 9700 block of Clocktower Lane in Columbia, is facing one count each of first-degree murder, using a handgun in a felony violent crime, and possessing a firearm after being convicted of a violent crime. He is accused in the Sept. 12 death of Baltimore-based bail bondswoman Nichole Bernadette McNair in the 8700 block of Hayshed Lane.