Judge

District judges in Baltimore threw out just over half of the 3,000 speed camera tickets they considered last year after hearing appeals from motorists, city records show. By contrast, in the second half of 2011 (the city didn't provide records for the first half), judges upheld barely 30 percent of the driver challenges heard. And in 2010, only a quarter of ticket recipients who appealed won in court, based on limited figures given by the city. It's not clear why judges as a group have increasingly sided with motorists - and against the machines that have cranked out more than 1.6 million $40 citations in the city since late 2009.

Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney denied Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold's request for acquittal on all charges in his misconduct trial, clearing the way for closing arguments Tuesday. The defense rested today after calling a total of three witnesses: two doctors to testify to Leopold's health in 2010, and the county personnel director, who said she processed Leopold's requests to give some of his pay back to the county. Leopold's attorneys also entered his health records into evidence after asking Sweeney to seal them to preserve his privacy as a patient.

In a frantic search for his own missing teenage daughter, the lead detective in the Phylicia Barnes murder case donned a black hooded sweatshirt and, along with two other men, forced his way into a Northeast Baltimore apartment where he believed she was hiding, attorneys said in court Thursday. Once inside, the men held down the occupants of the apartment so they could search for the girl and snatched a phone so the occupants could not call 911, attorneys said. Details of the accusations against Detective Daniel T. Nicholson IV emerged for the first time as defense attorneys and prosecutors sparred over whether the incident can be raised during the murder trial of Michael Maurice Johnson, who is accused of killing Barnes.

Howard Gary Bass, whose career as a Baltimore District Court judge spanned nearly three decades and who was known as something of a judicial free spirit for his application of humor to the law, died Tuesday afternoon at Good Samaritan Hospital after being stricken with a heart attack at his Homeland residence. Judge Bass was 70. On the day of his death, lawyers, judges and colleagues from across the state were preparing to honor him at a retirement dinner that evening at Sammy's Trattoria in downtown Baltimore.

A federal judge has ruled that the IRS doesn't have the authority to regulate tax preparers. This stunning ruling, though, is unlikely to have much impact in Maryland, which also regulates this group. “Maryland law was passed before the IRS regulations. We're still registering tax preparers and (they're) still in violation of Maryland law without being registered,” said Douglas Blackstone, executive director of the Maryland Board of Individual Tax Preparers. The state has about 3,700 registered preparers.

Judge Alfred Nance issued a 27-point list of directives for media as the trial of Michael Maurice Johnson, accused of killing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, got underway Tuesday morning.  Here's how the court order appeared taped outside the courtroom door:  1. The trial in the above captioned case is scheduled to be conducted in Part 22, Courtroom 556, Courthouse East, 111 N. Calvert St, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, Judge Alfred Nance presiding.  ...

Attorneys likely will begin laying out their cases before week's end in the criminal trial of Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who is accused of using taxpayer-funded police officers for his personal and political benefit. Leopold on Thursday waived his right to a jury trial, which means the case will be heard and decided by Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. The decision came after the trial opened Thursday with a day of jury selection. Leopold, 69, was indicted last March on four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary.

The $1.5 billion overhaul of State Center in midtown Baltimore is effectively dead after a judge voided development contracts essential to the project. “The court's ruling reconfirms the significance of following the competitive bidding laws,” said Alan M. Rifkin, the attorney for a group of business owners and landlords who sued the state, alleging that the contracts were illegitimate. Unless the state mounts a successful appeal and can resurrect the public-private partnership deal, the court order Thursday requires the state to go back to the drawing board on the project, in the pipeline since the administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. A new start would mean following the state's procurement laws, which require finding public financing for the project - a tall order in austere times.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold has waived his right to a jury in his criminal misconduct trial, clearing the way for attorneys to make opening statements Friday in a case that now will be heard by a single judge. The surprise move came during the second day of jury selection in the trial of Leopold, who faces charges of fraud and misconduct for allegedly using his taxpayer-funded police detail to run personal and political errands. Neither Leopold nor his attorneys explained the reason for the change of course or its timing.

A Baltimore judge said Tuesday that she will soon decide whether a lawsuit about the proposed $1.5 billion redevelopment of State Center should go to trial. At the end of several hours of arguments regarding whether the two sides agree about the facts of the case, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy told attorneys she intends to rule on the state's summary judgment motion before the end of the week. If Handy does not rule in the state's favor, and unless the parties come to a settlement, a trial will be necessary to determine the merits of allegations made in 2010 by downtown landlords and business owners.