Statute Of Limitations

The July death of a Baltimore man who was shot in 1974 has been ruled a homicide, but no one can be charged with murder in the case, according to a legal expert. State law at the time of the shooting set strict limits on when homicide charges could be filed, said Byron Warnken, a law professor at the University of Baltimore. Frank Phillips of the 100 block of S. Gilmore St. was shot in the 1500 block of Vine St. in July 1974, suffering massive injuries and eventually becoming a paraplegic, police said.

Sometimes it pays to be stubborn. For more than 33 years, Joseph and Shirley Poteet ignored annual Columbia Association bills and later threats of possible foreclosure for not paying the community's unofficial property tax fees that accumulated to more than $45,000. Now, a Circuit Court judge has thrown out the homeowners' association claim as too old to be enforced. But the Columbia Association is stubborn, too, and though the organization didn't sue the couple until 2008 - two years after they sold their property to a developer for $1.5 million and retired to Salisbury - the association's lawyers are appealing.

A bill that would put new teeth into Maryland's campaign finance laws survived a near-death experience in a House of Delegates committee yesterday as advocates turned aside an effort to shelve it for this year.But the legislation still faces an uncertain future at the hands of a skeptical subcommittee chairman.The bill, sponsored by Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, would make it easier to prosecute people who make illegal campaign donations by extending the statute of limitations for such violations.

Obama must explain goals for Afghanistan Why are we in Afghanistan? We've had the Iraq war shoved down our throats for years without knowing why we were there and now we see an escalation of troops in Afghanistan with no real explanation from our new president as to why this is necessary ("The Afghan dilemma," editorial, Feb. 18). Our economy is in ruins and getting worse, and yet we can somehow come up with billions to support another war that has no end in sight. Is it because the U.S. fears the fragile government in nearby Pakistan might succumb to the Taliban, resulting in nuclear weapons in the Taliban's arsenal?

HARTFORD, Conn. - The lawyer for Kennedy family member Michael Skakel argued to the state Supreme Court yesterday that a five-year statute of limitations in place when 15-year-old Martha Moxley was bludgeoned to death in 1975 should have barred his prosecution a quarter-century later. "Michael Skakel should never have been charged in 2000. Michael Skakel should never have been tried and convicted in 2002, and Michael Skakel should never have been incarcerated for two-and-a-half years," Hope Seeley argued to the five-member panel.

Senate OKs longer statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases The Senate unanimously approved a bill yesterday to lengthen the statute of limitations for people who were sexually abused as children. Currently, an abused child can file a civil lawsuit for three years after he or she turns 18. Under the new legislation, an abuse victim would have an additional four years -- the chance to sue until the age of 25. Most civil cases carry a three-year statute of limitations. Criminal cases don't have a statute of limitations.

I had a new home built four years ago. Unfortunately, the flashing for the windows was poorly done and rain can easily make its way underneath the siding. Over the years, and unknown to me, my house has been rotting. The problem became apparent only when I had water leaking into my basement. A handyman removed some siding, and the rot was so bad at points, that insulation could be seen sticking through the rotted fiberboard. The handyman has located other parts of the house that will need to be repaired.

WASHINGTON -- Lacking even the authority to pay out money it has on hand, the savings-and-loan bailout began grinding to a halt yesterday, a day after the House voted against continued federal spending on the industry cleanup.The Resolution Trust Corp., the federal agency in charge of selling institutions taken over by the government, said it would stop arranging such sales, delay a streamlining of its staff and postpone some property management and appraisal contracts, steps that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars a day.The Office of Thrift Supervision, which decides which institutions should be seized, said it might also hold off intervening in 28 less dire cases.

BOSTON - The former Roman Catholic bishop of Springfield, Mass., was indicted yesterday on charges of raping two boys during the 1970s, becoming the highest-ranking official of the American church to be indicted since the sexual abuse scandal unfolded in Boston nearly three years ago. But hours after the indictment was unsealed, Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett said that he would not prosecute Bishop Thomas L. Dupre because the six-year...

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously upheld Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's murder conviction yesterday, more than 30 years after a killing that sparked decades of intrigue. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning his neighbor, Martha Moxley, to death with a golf club in 1975 in wealthy Greenwich. Skakel, who along with the victim was 15 at the time, is serving 20 years to life in prison. He appealed his conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court last year, arguing among other things that the statute of limitations had expired when he was charged in 2000.

After three days in which Pope Benedict XVI has persistently addressed the scandal of child sexual abuse by priests, a top Vatican official said yesterday that the church is considering changes to the canon laws that govern how it handles such cases. The official, Cardinal William J. Levada, would not specify which canons were under reconsideration. But he suggested that they related to the church's statute of limitations, saying that his office has frequently had to judge allegations from years ago because the victims "don't feel personally able to come forward until" until they are more mature.

Pay bias ruling puts profit before people Led by President Bush's latest appointee, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., the Supreme Court last week tore the heart out of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as far as pay discrimination is concerned ("Limit on pay-bias lawsuits upheld," May 30). Justice Alito took the lead in the 5-4 ruling that found an employee who believes he or she has been discriminated against in pay based on gender, race, skin color, national origin or religion must file his or her charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 days of the pay being set or be forever barred from seeking redress in the federal courts.

A federal judge has blocked prosecutors from trying to prove that Columbia-based W.R. Grace & Co. and seven top officials knowingly endangered residents of Libby, Mont., through the release of asbestos at its mining operations there. Judge Donald Molloy of the U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont., said prosecutors in the criminal case could not pursue the allegation as part of a conspiracy charge because the five-year statute of limitations has run out. In his decision dated June 8, Molloy wrote that the government's allegation that Grace officials had failed to tell regulators about the extent of the contamination during the five-year period was not the same as an "overt act" to knowingly endanger people.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously upheld Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's murder conviction yesterday, more than 30 years after a killing that sparked decades of intrigue. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning his neighbor, Martha Moxley, to death with a golf club in 1975 in wealthy Greenwich. Skakel, who along with the victim was 15 at the time, is serving 20 years to life in prison. He appealed his conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court last year, arguing among other things that the statute of limitations had expired when he was charged in 2000.

HARTFORD, Conn. - The lawyer for Kennedy family member Michael Skakel argued to the state Supreme Court yesterday that a five-year statute of limitations in place when 15-year-old Martha Moxley was bludgeoned to death in 1975 should have barred his prosecution a quarter-century later. "Michael Skakel should never have been charged in 2000. Michael Skakel should never have been tried and convicted in 2002, and Michael Skakel should never have been incarcerated for two-and-a-half years," Hope Seeley argued to the five-member panel.

I had a new home built four years ago. Unfortunately, the flashing for the windows was poorly done and rain can easily make its way underneath the siding. Over the years, and unknown to me, my house has been rotting. The problem became apparent only when I had water leaking into my basement. A handyman removed some siding, and the rot was so bad at points, that insulation could be seen sticking through the rotted fiberboard. The handyman has located other parts of the house that will need to be repaired.

The House of Delegates yesterday defeated legislation that would have required motorists to turn on their headlights in the rain.Although similar legislation had passed the Senate, the delegates voted 67 to 62 against House Bill 183. The bill would have required drivers to turn on headlights any time they operated their windshield wipers.Opponents argued that the proposal was an attempt to legislate common sense."When are we going to get the message that the people are big boys and girls and can make their own decisions," said Del. Michael W. Burns, a Glen Burnie Republican.

In Maryland's first test of recovered memory in sex abuse cases, a Baltimore judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit brought by two former students against a Catholic priest who is alleged to have molested them almost 25 years ago.Although he called it an "egregious case," Circuit Judge Hilary D. Caplan did not rule on its merits, but only on the narrow issue of whether the women's long-suppressed memories qualified for an exception to Maryland's statute of...

MEXICO CITY - In a victory for human rights groups, Mexico's highest court agreed yesterday to review a case seeking to charge a former president with genocide for a 1971 student massacre during this country's "dirty war" against leftist dissidents. The Supreme Court will not judge the merits of the charges against ex-President Luis Echeveria and 13 other former government officials in connection with one of Mexico's most infamous massacres. Rather, it will determine whether a lower-court judge was wrong to reject the case on grounds that the statute of limitations had expired.

BOSTON - The former Roman Catholic bishop of Springfield, Mass., was indicted yesterday on charges of raping two boys during the 1970s, becoming the highest-ranking official of the American church to be indicted since the sexual abuse scandal unfolded in Boston nearly three years ago. But hours after the indictment was unsealed, Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett said that he would not prosecute Bishop Thomas L. Dupre because the six-year...