Joseph Curran

The state's highest court cleared a former Baltimore police sergeant of manslaughter yesterday for shooting a man during a traffic stop in 1996, making it easier for officers to deviate from department rules in using deadly force. Stephen R. Pagotto, a 16-year veteran when he was convicted by a Circuit Court jury and fired nearly four years ago, now stands a good chance of getting his job back. His 20-month prison sentence for fatally shooting Preston E. Barnes, 22, in Northeast Baltimore had been on hold during his appeals.

A public education campaign aimed at preventing homebuyers from purchasing flipped, overvalued houses was announced yesterday by Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. Curran said the campaign will include a series of public meetings in various communities, distribution of thousands of brochures that describe the telltale signs of a fraudulent property flip, taped public service announcements that television stations have agreed to run and a...

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said yesterday that after reviewing state law, there appears to be no reason to block the pending sale of 4300 N. Charles St., an apartment building in North Baltimore, to the Calvert School. Curran attended a Monday night meeting of about 100 residents, many of them elderly, who will be forced to move when the building is sold. "For now, it would appear the landlord has the right to sell, without telling in advance and without permission from tenants," Curran said.

The Curran clock tower at York Road and Woodbourne Avenue in Govans hasn't ticked or chimed in years. For better than a decade, City Hall had neither the inclination nor the $30,000 to fix the burned-out circuits in the northeast Baltimore landmark. But, then, it didn't have Curran kin in the mayor's office, either. Last week marked 10 years since the marriage of Martin O'Malley and Catherine "Katie" Curran, granddaughter of the man to whom the city dedicated the clock 20 years ago - J. Joseph Curran Sr., late patriarch of a family deeply rooted in the political gardens of northeast Baltimore.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed an assistant state attorney general and a family-law specialist yesterday to seats on the Baltimore District Court. Appointed were Nathan Braverman, 44, an assistant attorney general with the state's insurance fraud division, and Miriam B. Hutchins, 47, who adjudicates child-custody cases and other domestic matters for the city Circuit Court. Braverman, who has worked in the attorney general's office for nine years, and Hutchins, a domestic equity master since 1990, are both Baltimore residents.

Here is Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.'s official response to my Jan. 30 column, in which I referred to him as mealy-mouthed and weaselly for his gun-control efforts, the likes of which left my son unarmed when robbed of his jacket at gunpoint. "Dear Mr. Kane, I am writing this letter in response to your column. ... Before I respond, however, it is my hope that your son was not physically harmed during the robbery and that he is recovering emotionally from the incident.

Curran's call to ban handguns won't make Marylanders saferIt's nice to see Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran speak the truth for once: that his goal is to eliminate handguns ("Curran calls for ban on handguns," Oct. 20).It's also nice to see a man, with armed guards protecting him, say it's time for the rest of us to give up our handguns.Would Mr. Curran like to pay for armed guards to protect my family?It is my God-given right to defend my family and myself from harm. I will be damned if I will sit by and let Mr. Curran take that away from me.Law-abiding gun owners have stood by long enough while politicians spout feel-good legislation that hurts law-abiding citizens and helps criminals.

A blaring bagpipe, twinkling harp strings and sea of the state's top Democratic politicians gave an Irish-American tribute at the funeral yesterday of former Northeast Baltimore City Councilman Martin E. "Mike" Curran.Former Gov. and current state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke joined about 1,000 friends, family and Curran supporters packing St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church on Harford Road to bid farewell to the longtime Democratic Party organizer.

Martin E. "Mike" Curran Sr., a retired brewery worker who spent 18 years in the City Council representing Northeast Baltimore, died yesterday afternoon at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 64.Mr. Curran died of complications from a heart attack suffered Wednesday morning while driving on Old Harford Road. The car struck a house.He was a member of a Northeast Baltimore political dynasty that has been at home in City Hall for years. His 3rd District seat is now held by his brother Robert Curran.

A former Baltimore councilman and member of one of the city's most politically influential families suffered an apparent heart attack while driving in Northeast Baltimore yesterday morning, ran off a road, crossed an apartment complex parking lot and crashed into a house, police said.Martin E. "Mike" Curran, 64, of the 3700 block of Echodale Ave. was in critical condition at Good Samaritan Hospital, police said.Police said Curran was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo north on Old Harford Road about 10 a.m. when he slumped over the wheel and lost control near Northern Parkway.