Maryland Attorney General

A Severn man has been convicted of pouring 100 gallons of waste oil into his neighbor's yard, according to the Maryland attorney general's office. Lino G. Razuri, 43, of the 500 block of Queenstown Road was accused of removing a 275-gallon oil tank from his property and dumping on his neighbor's land in the 600 block of Queenstown Road in January. He was found guilty Tuesday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court.

Today, The Sun continues its endorsements for the Nov. 7 general election with races for Maryland attorney general and state's attorneys in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties. With a staff of 500 and duties that range from providing legal counsel to state agencies to arguing criminal appeals, Maryland's attorney general should have a broad range of legal expertise and a proven administrative record. Douglas F. Gansler, who has served two terms as Montgomery County state's attorney and six years as an assistant U.S. attorney, fits the bill.

Seven-term Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who at 80 eschews the term limits he once endorsed, is such an entrenched presence in Western Maryland that a top GOP colleague didn't realize Bartlett faces a contested primary Tuesday. "If he has a primary, I don't even know who his opponent is," said Frederick County State's Attorney Scott L. Rolle, the Republican candidate for Maryland attorney general. "I know who's running on the Democratic side." A fiercer Democratic primary is shaping up in Maryland's 6th Congressional District - a sprawling region stretching from the state's western border through Frederick and Carroll and parts of Harford, Montgomery and Baltimore counties.

The Maryland attorney general's office is denying an assertion that Maryland Transportation Authority Police Chief Gary W. McLhinney received the approval of state lawyers before releasing sensitive security information last month. The documents McLhinney released included the names of Secret Service agents and other security officers providing executive protection to state and federal officials and their families - details government agencies generally resist disclosing. The statement that McLhinney had acted on the advice of state lawyers came in an e-mail from another state transportation department law enforcement officer, Maryland Transit Administration Police Chief Douglas DeLeaver, to The Sun's public editor.

Maryland and eight other states have reached a $171 million settlement with an insurance company accused of inflating prices and fixing bids on commercial insurance policies, the Maryland attorney general's office said yesterday. Zurich American Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $151 million to the defrauded companies - with about $2.8 million paid to businesses in Maryland - to settle allegations of bid-rigging and price-fixing, said Kevin Enright, a spokesman for Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. Zurich will pay an additional $20 million to the states for investigative costs.

WASHINGTON -- A high-profile and emotional Annapolis murder case reached the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday, as justices peppered lawyers for a young murder suspect and the state of Maryland with questions about when a suspect might change his mind and talk to police. With lightning-fast inquiries, justices focused on whether the violation of a teen murder suspect's right to have an attorney present means his subsequent statements to police - and ultimately the entire case - will not go to trial.

The Maryland attorney general's office has reached a settlement of more than $500,000 with Debtscape Inc., a Linthicum credit counseling agency that was accused of improperly charging fees to consumers years ago. More than 1,000 Marylanders who used Debtscape services from 1999 to October 2003 could be due refunds, Philip D.Ziperman, an assistant attorney general, said yesterday. Because of the size of the settlement, Debtscape is making monthly payments to the state, which eventually will make refunds to consumers over the next four to five years.

A case that could affect Maryland's ability to curtail fraudulent e-mail advertisements was argued yesterday before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, which must decide whether to affirm a lower court ruling that the state's restriction on so-called "spam" is unconstitutional and unenforceable across state lines. An attorney for Eric Menhart, a recent graduate of the George Washington University Law School who was among the first to file suit under state law against an alleged spam marketing firm, argued before the court yesterday that the borderless nature of the Internet required laws to reach into other areas.

CLARIFICATION An article in Thursday's Business section about a record homebuilder fine stated that the attorney general's office receives about 250 to 300 allegations of homebuilding fraud annually. Most of those regard construction defects. A Maryland homebuilder has been penalized nearly $1.3 million for defrauding buyers, the Maryland attorney general reported yesterday - the latest financial penalty since a homebuilder registration program was created in 2001. Jeffrey Bryant, owner of Advanced Building Solutions Inc. and the Precision Group Inc., neglected to protect consumer deposits he received, did not register the Precision Group and failed to build homes in Montgomery and Prince George's counties as promised for at least 32 residents, the attorney general's office said.

The Maryland Attorney General's office is reviewing the planned sale of the former Fort Ritchie Army base in Western Maryland to a Columbia-based commercial developer, after community members raised concerns about the $5 million to $9 million transaction. PenMar Development Corp., a state agency created to redevelop the closed base in the mountains of Washington County, has a contract to sell the 637-acre property to Corporate Office Properties Trust. COPT, which plans 1.7 million square feet of office space and 673 homes, would pay the lower amount if the development generates the anticipated 1,500 jobs.