Trial Date

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people - including 13 women working as corrections officers - who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

A Harford County man charged with first-degree murder in connection with a double-shooting in Port Deposit earlier this year remains jailed in Cecil County while he awaits trial this summer. William Gary Roland, 57, of the 1500 block of Galaxy Drive in Street, allegedly shot and wounded his estranged wife, Eileen L. Roland, 56, of Edgewood, and shot and killed her boyfriend, Timothy S. Hammons, 48, during an altercation with the couple on the evening of Jan. 7 that took place in Mr. Hammons' home in the 200 block of Craigtown Road in Port Deposit.

A trial date for Carl O. Snowden, the former civil rights chief within the Maryland attorney general's office arrested on marijuana possession charges this spring, has been set for Aug. 6 in Baltimore district court. Snowden, who took a leave of absence from his job the day after his arrest, was sitting with another man - a convicted sex offender - in a 2010 Honda Pilot parked in Druid Hill on April 19, according to police charging documents. Officers driving an unmarked car pulled alongside and said they smelled a "strong odor" of marijuana and spotted a cigar they suspected contained the drug.

The trial for the Baltimore County police officer charged in the death of a Randallstown teenager has been scheduled to begin Dec. 11. Officer James D. Laboard, who has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Christopher Brown, appeared in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Tuesday to schedule the trial date. Wearing a light-green button-down shirt and tie, he sat quietly next to his attorney. Police said Laboard and Brown got into a physical confrontation June 13 in which Brown fell unconscious and the officer tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him. Brown had been with a group of teens who threw rocks at the officer's front door when, police said, Laboard chased Brown to a nearby home.

The Baltimore couple accused of killing cancer researcher Stephen Pitcairn this summer as he walked home from a city train station is scheduled for trial on murder, assault and robbery charges early next year. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. Doory set a trial date of Jan. 26, 2011, for Lavelva Merritt, 24, and John Alexander Wagner, 37. Charging documents claim the pair stabbed Pitcairn, who worked at Johns Hopkins University, and robbed him of his wallet and iPhone on July 25, then left him for dead on the sidewalk in the 2600 block of St. Paul St. A neighbor heard Pitcairn's cries and held the young man as he died, just days before his 24 t h birthday.

A former patient at the Clifton T. Perkins state psychiatric hospital who was charged with killing another patient in September is scheduled to stand trial March 21 in Howard County Circuit Court. El Soudani El Wahhabi is accused of killing Susan Sachs on September 26. After nurses discovered Sachs lying face-down on her bed with a shoelace wrapped around her neck, El-Wahhabi, who lived down the hall, was charged with first-degree murder. Sachs' death was the first apparent murder in the Jessup facility's 50-year history.

The Allman Brothers and the Flaming Lips will headline this year's All Good Festival at its new location in Columbus, Ohio, Maryland-based Walther Productions said today. The jam band festival moved from its long-time West Virginia location in November after a fatal accident at last year's event left a young woman dead, resulting in three wrongful-death lawsuits.  Coincidentally, a U.S. District judge said today all three lawsuits will be tried together at a trial that has been tentatively set for August 19. All Good's 15th edition ended in tragedy when a truck careened into a camp of tents where attendees slept, killing a South Carolina woman, Nicole Faris Miller.

The trial for the Baltimore County police officer charged in the death of a Randallstown teenager has been scheduled to begin Dec. 11. Officer James D. Laboard, who has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Christopher Brown, appeared in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Tuesday to schedule the trial date. Wearing a light-green button-down shirt and tie, he sat quietly next to his attorney. Police said Laboard and Brown got into a physical confrontation June 13 in which Brown fell unconscious and the officer tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him. Brown had been with a group of teens who threw rocks at the officer's front door when, police said, Laboard chased Brown to a nearby home.

U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson set a May 15 trial date yesterday for Del. Tony E. Fulton, a West Baltimore Democrat, and Annapolis lobbyist Gerard E. Evans on charges of defrauding clients of Evans' paint and asbestos company. The federal mail and wire fraud charges stem from an alleged scheme in which Fulton talked about proposing legislation that could have cost Evans' clients millions of dollars. By threatening to introduce the bills, Fulton helped Evans drive up his lobbying fees, prosecutors charge.

Anne Arundel County prosecutors may lose a high-profile manslaughter case without a trial because the trial date was delayed past the legal deadline without the lawyers' bringing it before a judge for approval. The lawyer for Kirk R. DeCosmo, who is accused of causing two fatal vehicular crashes in 13 years, is claiming that although he agreed to a trial date after the 180-day speedy trial limit, the pact he made with prosecutors is not valid. He has asked the Circuit Court's administrative judge to dismiss the charges.

Almost two months after Christopher Brown died outside a Randallstown home, the family of the slain teen continues to ask that the state's attorney's office seek murder charges against the Baltimore County police officer accused in his death. Tuesday night at a meeting organized by the family, Brown's mother, Chris, said that she wants the Baltimore County State's Attorney's office to pursue a second-degree murder charge against Officer James D. Laboard, who is awaiting a trial date on voluntary and involuntary manslaughter charges.

A trial date for Carl O. Snowden, the former civil rights chief within the Maryland attorney general's office arrested on marijuana possession charges this spring, has been set for Aug. 6 in Baltimore district court. Snowden, who took a leave of absence from his job the day after his arrest, was sitting with another man - a convicted sex offender - in a 2010 Honda Pilot parked in Druid Hill on April 19, according to police charging documents. Officers driving an unmarked car pulled alongside and said they smelled a "strong odor" of marijuana and spotted a cigar they suspected contained the drug.

Anne Arundel County police have charged a 19-year-old California woman with prostitution, operating a prostitution ring and human trafficking. Shkoyia Michelle Lomack of Sacramento was arrested Tuesday evening and remains in custody with a June 19 trial date. Officers received an anonymous tip that a woman was using hotels in the Linthicum area to house prostitutes and profit from their activities. Investigators say Lomack had used an Internet advertisement as a front for the prostitution ring that involved other women from California.

The Allman Brothers and the Flaming Lips will headline this year's All Good Festival at its new location in Columbus, Ohio, Maryland-based Walther Productions said today. The jam band festival moved from its long-time West Virginia location in November after a fatal accident at last year's event left a young woman dead, resulting in three wrongful-death lawsuits.  Coincidentally, a U.S. District judge said today all three lawsuits will be tried together at a trial that has been tentatively set for August 19. All Good's 15th edition ended in tragedy when a truck careened into a camp of tents where attendees slept, killing a South Carolina woman, Nicole Faris Miller.

Sixteen-year-old Robert C. Richardson III was indicted Tuesday on murder charges in the January death of his father. The Harford County Grand Jury indicted the Bel Air teen, who has been held without bond in the Harford County Detention Center. Richardson has been charged with first- and second-degree murder as well as the use of a handgun during the commission of a crime. Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly would say little about the case late Tuesday. "A lot of speculation about a motive has surrounded this case from the outset; [it]

Closing arguments are expected Wednesday morning in the death penalty trial of a prisoner charged with fatally stabbing a correctional officer in the now-closed House of Correction. As the defense began presenting its case Monday, jurors heard prisoners testify that neither of the masked killers of Cpl. David McGuinn appeared to be Lee Edward "Shy" Stephens. Stephens, 32, is one of two convicted murderers accused of escaping from a cell whose lock had been jimmied and ambushing McGuinn.

A trial date in mid-November was set yesterday for three men charged in a shooting last month at Randallstown High School. Antonio R. Jackson, 21, of Owings Mills, Tyrone Devon Brown, 23, of Baltimore and Matthew Timothy McCullough, 17, of Randallstown are scheduled to go on trial Nov. 15 in Baltimore County Circuit Court. Attorneys for Jackson and McCullough said they plan to ask a judge to allow their clients to be tried separately, but prosecutors said they intend to try all three co-defendants together.

An inmate has been held on a shoplifting charge at the city jail for 16 months with no trial, according to jail officials.Darryl E. Dodd, 30, has been in jail custody since April 5, 1990, said jail officials and prosecutors.our knowledge, no action has been taken since then," said Leonard A. Sipes Jr., a jail spokesman. Officials yesterday arranged for Dodd to stand trial Sept. 4 in city Circuit Court on the charge of theft under $300 and two lesser charges, Sipes said.OC Officials of the jail, known as Baltimore City Detention Centersince the state assumed control of it July 1, discovered Dodd's plight during a review of inmate records.

With jury selection extending past last week, opening statements that had been scheduled for Monday in the death penalty trial of a prisoner charged with killing a correctional officer are expected to take place Wednesday. Lee Edward Stephens, 32, is one of two life-term prisoners accused of fatally stabbing David McGuinn in July 2006 as he walked on a skinny catwalk along cells at the Maryland House of Correction. The slaying was among the main reasons the prison, in Jessup, was closed.

Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia are asking for a postponement until spring in the trial for an Ellicott City teen charged with aiding a terrorist, citing complexities in a case filled with classified information, voluminous evidence and multiple defendants. Also, according to documents filed by the U.S. attorney's office for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, an alleged accomplice remains incarcerated in Ireland pending extradition. Prosecutors say he has neither retained an attorney nor had a single court appearance related to the case.