Tolbert

The trial of an Annapolis man on charges that he and a friend killed a prominent businessman in the city's historic district was put off yesterday until January because the defense has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether prosecutors can use statements they say amount to a confession. Terrence Tolbert, charged with first-degree murder in the carjacking and fatal shooting of 51-year-old Straughan Lee Griffin, was to have gone on trial Sept. 21. Instead, Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth yesterday set a Jan. 5 date for the trial.

On October 23, 2009 MELENEE TOLBERT WARD; devoted mother of Marechal Echols. Friends may visit the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Wednesday after 8:30 AM where the family will receive friends from 4 to 7 PM. The family will also receive friends on Thursday at the above establishment at 11:30 AM follow by funeral services at 12 PM.

The first-degree murder conviction this week of Terrence Tolbert for a chilling 2002 carjacking-killing in Annapolis's Historic District has refocused attention on the fate of his alleged accomplice. While Tolbert, 21, faces the possibility of being sentenced to life in prison without parole, Leeander Jerome Blake, 19, is free and cannot be tried unless the U.S. Supreme Court revives his case. An Anne Arundel County jury convicted Tolbert late Wednesday of first-degree murder, armed carjacking and related counts in the Sept.

The murder and carjacking convictions against Leeander Jerome Blake, who helped steal a Jeep Cherokee from an Annapolis man killed during the crime, will stand, a federal appeals court ruled last week. Blake, who was 17 at the time of the 2002 carjacking, avoided prosecution at the state level by successfully arguing that police illegally interrogated him. After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on the state's appeal, federal prosecutors took up the case, indicting Blake in 2006 on murder, carjacking and gun charges.

INDIANAPOLIS - They kept watching Brian Tolbert and Eastern Michigan hit jump shot after jump shot. They kept seeing their deficit grow until it had reached 13 points.But the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies kept doing something else: They kept their cool."Coach said during the first couple of timeouts, 'They can't keep shooting like this,' " said senior guard Doron Sheffer. "After a while, they got tired and started missing their shots."And Sheffer started hitting his. As did All-America guard Ray Allen.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Maybe someone should remind Auburn coach Cliff Ellis where nice guys usually finish. Ellis inserted his second-year team manager, Jimbo Tolbert, into the final seconds of yesterday's Midwest Regional first-round game and his sentimental gesture nearly backfired. Tolbert committed a turnover in his 15 seconds of fame that allowed Creighton to close to within three points before Auburn secured the 72-69 victory at the Metrodome. "Jimbo made one mistake," Ellis said. "There were other mistakes."

An Annapolis man was convicted of first-degree murder last night in the carjacking-killing of a businessman in front of his Historic District home in 2002. After five hours of deliberations, an Anne Arundel Circuit Court jury of five men and seven women convicted Terrence Tolbert of first-degree murder, armed carjacking and several related counts in the fatal shooting of Straughan Lee Griffin as he unloaded groceries from his Jeep. Although prosecutors produced no witnesses or murder weapon, police told jurors that Tolbert had admitted his role in the crime after his arrest a month later.

BARNESVILLE -- Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House when Elizabeth Ray Hays Tolbert was first elected mayor of this tiny town in northern Montgomery County. Presidents have come and gone since then, but only now is Lib Tolbert retiring after three decades at the helm of this quaint rural crossroads. Today, for the first time since 1975, she will not be on the ballot when Barnesville's 157 residents cast their votes in Bob Lillard's garage for the town's three commissioners. The top vote-getter by tradition becomes mayor, a post Tolbert has held for all but six years since 1965.

Jurors will get their first inkling of prosecutors' murder case against Terrence Tolbert, as well as his defense against charges that he killed and carjacked a businessman in Annapolis' historic district in 2002, when both sides make their opening statements this morning in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Late yesterday, a panel of five men and seven women, plus four alternates, was selected, ending a day of questioning by Judge Ronald A. Silkworth in the high-profile crime that terrified a community, has been a legal roller coaster and led to a change in state law. Tolbert is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept.

He was the little boy in everyone's prayers, the 8-year-old who lost his right arm to a 13,000-volt shock in his Annapolis neighborhood. Terrence Tolbert endured weeks of hospitalization and a painful recovery from injuries he suffered after crawling into an electrical transformer likely pried open by drug dealers hiding their stash. He had to learn again to dress himself and tie his shoes, to ride his bicycle and write. His struggle after the accident in 1991 inspired Annapolis residents, who raised money for medical bills and brought gifts.

On April 14, 2009, Lillie Visitation at Calvin B. Scruggs Funeral Home, 1412 East Preston Street on Wednesday, April 22nd from 2 to 7 P.M. Family will receive friends on Thursday from 10 to 10:30 A.M. at which time funeral will begin.

Leeander Jerome Blake, an accused killer whose victory at the U.S. Supreme Court ended the state's case and prompted a frustrated local prosecutor to say the young Annapolis man had "gotten away with murder," was convicted yesterday on federal murder and carjacking charges in the 2002 killing of a city businessman just blocks from the State House. The centerpiece of the successful federal prosecution was Blake's incriminating statement to Annapolis police - remarks that Anne Arundel County prosecutors were barred from using.

Federal prosecutors portrayed Leeander Jerome Blake yesterday as a teenager who prowled downtown Annapolis with his friend looking for a victim and then took part in an armed carjacking, killing a man in front of his home. But the defense lawyer for Blake countered that his alleged confession to police in 2002 is the unreliable result of scare tactics and that he played no role in the 2002 carjacking and killing of Straughan Lee Griffin. Both sides presented closing arguments yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

The federal case against an Annapolis man accused in a carjacking-slaying near the State House moved toward its conclusion yesterday, as the prosecution rested and the defense indicated it would call one more witness today. Leeander Jerome Blake, 22, is charged with murder and four related counts in the Sept. 19, 2002, slaying of Straughan Lee Griffin, 51, a businessman shot in the forehead in front of his house and then run over by his own Jeep Grand Cherokee as the assailants sped out of the cul-de-sac.

On December 29, 2006, DOROTHY M. HAHN (nee Tolbert) beloved wife of Donald J. Hahn, Sr.; devoted mother of Tanya Verteramo, Donald Hahn Jr., Maria White and Matthew Hahn; dear sister of Virginia Lee Wilkens, Bernice Reihl and Richard Tolbert; dear grandmother of Tianna, Tara, Meghan, Daniel and Matthew, Jr. and great-grandmother of Shely, Hannah, Elsa and Luke; also survived by many nieces and nephews. Visitation Sunday and Monday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. at the CVACH ROSEDALE FUNERAL HOME, 1211 Chesaco Avenue.

On December 6, 2006, Elsie Louise Family will receive friends Saturday in the Chapel of WYLIE FUNERAL HOME P.A. of BALTIMORE COUNTY 9200 Liberty Road for the 11:00am Visitation 11:30 am Memorial Service. Inquiries www.wyliefuneralhome.com or 410-655-9200.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Maybe someone should remind Auburn coach Cliff Ellis where nice guys usually finish. Ellis inserted his second-year team manager, Jimbo Tolbert, into the final seconds of yesterday's Midwest Regional first-round game and his sentimental gesture nearly backfired. Tolbert committed a turnover in his 15 seconds of fame that allowed Creighton to close to within three points before Auburn secured the 72-69 victory at the Metrodome. "Jimbo made one mistake," Ellis said. "There were other mistakes."

CONNIE TOLBERT?S "AH-HA!" Moment occurred one day 16 years ago. Like many of her neighbors then, she was an unemployed single mother on welfare. It was the first of the month and welfare checks would be arriving that day. Ms. Tolbert was outside watching her four children play when her youngest, a 4-year-old daughter, spotted the mailman approaching. "She was so happy," Ms. Tolbert recalled. "She was telling her friends, ?We?re going to get new tennis shoes. We?re going to get this and that.

For decades, Christine Presberry Tolbert watched the slow deterioration of the one-room schoolhouse that generations of her family attended. She feared that the rich history of the Hosanna School in Darlington and of its students would be demolished along with the dilapidated structure if she didn't try to save it. In 1982, Tolbert went before the General Assembly seeking money to restore the schoolhouse to its original state and establish a museum....