Jury

Kirk R. Osborn, a career public defender who headed the city's misdemeanor jury trial unit, died of cancer Friday at Union Memorial Hospital. The Mayfield resident was 55. "I'm going to miss him," said Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams. "Kirk was a person I could always trust. He had a high level of integrity. He was a good man who took the time to get to know his clients. His death is a huge loss for those of us who work in the justice system. " Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said, "Kirk was a consummate professional and a real pleasure to work with, even though we were on different sides of the aisle.

The judge overseeing the Phylicia Barnes murder trial said Friday that prosecutors are proceeding on a circumstantial theory that causes him "great concern," but added that the case should continue and be presented to jurors. Circuit Judge Alfred Nance's comments came after prosecutors rested their case and the defense moved for the acquittal of Michael Maurice Johnson. Johnson is charged with one count of first-degree murder, and defense attorney Mary Lloyd said prosecutors cannot prove that he planned to kill Phylicia.

Fearing the investigation into Phylicia Barnes' death was closing in on him, prosecutors say, Michael Maurice Johnson told his girlfriend in text messages that he was thinking about fleeing the country. "I feel like everything is about to hit the fan. I don't know if I'm ready to deal with it," the 28-year-old wrote in one message amid a Harford County grand jury investigation in October 2011. "I still have options, not many, but I feel like I should pack up and leave. I don't want to, but that's how I feel.

Michael Maurice Johnson is scheduled to stand trial starting Tuesday in the death of North Carolina teenager Phylicia Barnes, with court proceedings that could include prosecutors playing a sex video and defense attorneys revealing details from an internal affairs investigation of the lead detective in the case. Barnes, 16, disappeared in late December 2010 while visiting her half-sister Deena Barnes in Baltimore. Her body was found four months later floating naked in the Susquehanna River.

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.

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.

The defense team for Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold is fighting prosecutors' move to block it from obtaining documents it claims would show the "same conduct" as that in criminal charges against Leopold has not been prosecuted before, showing inconsistencies in when charges are filed. The remarks come in a court filing this week in a dispute between the Office of the State Prosecutor and the defense. The defense wants material it argues goes to the heart of legal issues it is raising in the trial scheduled to begin Wednesday with jury selection.

About 320 Anne Arundel County residents were scheduled to complete jury questionnaires Friday in preparation for the upcoming criminal trial of County Executive John R. Leopold. Leopold, in the midst of his second term, is fighting charges that he used his taxpayer-funded police security detail to arrange sexual liaisons and to defeat political opponents. His trial on four counts of misconduct in office and fraudulent misappropriation is scheduled to begin in mid-January. Advance questionnaires for potential jurors are typically used in high-profile, death penalty or complicated cases in which a large number of people will be called for jury duty.

A Baltimore jury on Monday afternoon acquitted Keith X. Holly Jr., 23, who was accused of murdering James Ingram, 46, two years ago. Holly had denied committing the crime, and his public defender argued that it was committed by another man, Donte Collins, who has since been killed. The state's case "just doesn't make sense," said Denise Winston, the defender, during closing arguments. Prosecutors relied on the testimony of Renee Barnes, Collins' mother and a longtime friend of Ingram's; Yvette Edwards, a neighbor; and Latia Moses, Collins' girlfriend and the mother of his child.

UPDATE: Carl Snowden has been found guilty of a misdemeanor drug possession charge.  Police smelled marijuana 10 feet from the car in which the civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office was sitting, then saw the marijuana cigar lying a foot from Carl O. Snowden in his car, a Baltimore prosecutor told jurors Monday. "We've all heard of contact highs," city prosecutor Deniece Robinson said in her closing arguments, contending that Snowden had been "enjoying" the illegal drug as much as his passenger was. City police approached the Honda Pilot last April in Druid Hill Park and charged both men. "He knew the marijuana was there.