Judge

Ten lawyers, including the county's state's attorney and a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, have applied for a vacancy on the Harford County Circuit Court. The 10 applicants to replace recently retired Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. are: • Joseph Ignatius Cassilly, Harford County State's Attorney since 1983; • Michael Gerard Comeau, a senor assistant attorney in the Harford County Law Department and a former state delegate; • Yolanda Lauranzon Curtin, a state administrative law judge and former Harford prosecutor; • Michael Hugh Andrew Daney, associate zoning hearing examiner for Harford County; • Howard Wayne Norman Jr., a member of the House of Delegates representing Northern Harford; • Steven J. Scheinin, a lawyer in private practice and previous judge applicant and candidate; • District Court Judge Victor Kuras Butanis, a district judge since 1996; • Melissa Lazarich Lambert, chief legal counsel to the Harford County Council and a former assistant state's attorney; • Kerwin Anthony Miller Sr., deputy state's attorney for Cecil County; • Diane Adkins Tobin, deputy state's attorney for Harford County.

Accused of taping a judge without her consent, a Baltimore police officer broke down on the witness stand Friday as he testified that one phone call left his 18-year career hanging in the balance. "I've lost everything because of this," said Sgt. Carlos M. Vila. Prosecutors allege that Vila's recording of a phone conversation during which he argued with the judge was a violation of Maryland's wiretap laws. Vila is also charged with playing the recording - which he says was accidental - for colleagues on two occasions.

A Baltimore judge threw out the murder conviction of a man who was to be sentenced Wednesday in the killing of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, saying prosecutors withheld information about a key witness from defense attorneys. The second-degree murder conviction of Michael Maurice Johnson, 29, last month had appeared to close the case of the North Carolina girl who disappeared while visiting family in Baltimore in 2010. But Circuit Judge Alfred Nance's ruling will give Johnson another chance to plead his innocence.

A federal judge ruled Monday that claims by two former Anne Arundel County employees, who allege they lost their jobs because of retaliation by the administration of former County Executive John R. Leopold, can advance to trial. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake threw out some parts of the lawsuits by Karla Hamner, a former spokeswoman for Leopold, and Joan Harris, who worked as a constituent services specialist during the executive's first term. But the judge "kept the crux of both of the cases" said John Singleton, an attorney representing both plaintiffs.

Does John Leopold have Sheila Dixon to blame? He'll have plenty of time — 30 days to be specific — to contemplate such a cosmic question, as the former Anne Arundel County executive serves out the surprise prison sentence he received Thursday for misconduct in office. The not-quite-hanging judge who found him guilty on two counts of misconduct and ordered him locked up was Dennis Sweeney, who in 2009 presided over the trial of another public official gone wrong: former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Roland Walker, a colorful and highly regarded defense attorney who was a fixture in Baltimore courtrooms for six decades, died Saturday of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at his Lutherville home. He was 82. "Roland was always a person's lawyer. He represented people, not organizations or institutions, and he did it brilliantly," said Joseph F. Murphy Jr., former chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals. "He did mainly criminal defense work and always had a wonderful way with people, judges and jurors.

Former Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold was led out of a courtroom Thursday with his wrists handcuffed behind his back and his head lowered, bound for the county jail after being sentenced for his misconduct in office conviction and behavior a judge condemned as "outrageous. " Outside the county courthouse, a Leopold supporter said the judge should be fired, while a woman whose lawsuit alleges that she was wrongly terminated by the Leopold administration walked from the building exclaiming, "Pop the champagne!"

Construction can proceed on a casino planned for Baltimore after a Circuit Court judge threw out on Thursday an attempt by opponents to halt the development. A group of environmental advocates and neighborhood residents filed suit last month to delay the issuing of building permits for the planned Horseshoe Baltimore Casino, alleging the city and state improperly approved an inadequate cleanup of industrial contamination at the site near Westport. Earlier this week, another judge approved a temporary order blocking construction when attorneys representing the neighborhood said work had begun on the site despite the lawsuit.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ordered a halt Monday to construction work on the city's planned casino until a hearing Friday on a lawsuit by Westport residents alleging that the city and state improperly approved an inadequate cleanup of industrial contamination at the site. Judge Yolanda Tanner issued a temporary restraining against CBAC Gaming, the city and the Maryland Department of the Environment after lawyers for the Westport residents complained that work had begun on the Horseshoe Casino, despite assurances last week from the casino owner's lawyer that it would not engage in any construction activity before the scheduled hearing.

A federal judge has ordered Baltimore police to halt a "veritable witch hunt" into the personal life of a man who alleges that his camera was seized as he filmed an arrest. In a ruling unsealed Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Gauvey said the department must pay $1,000 for a "not so subtle attempt to intimidate the plaintiff" in a civil suit against the department. She took issue with tactics employed against Christopher Sharp, who sued the department two years ago, alleging that officers deleted images from his phone after he recorded a female friend being beaten by officers at the 2010 Preakness Stakes.