Trial Date

Despite open questions before the state's Court of Special Appeals, dates were set Thursday in the trial of Baltimore Councilwoman Helen L. Holton on charges of campaign-finance violations. Baltimore Councilwoman Helen L. Holton campaign finance violations trial sweeney bribery appeals special Despite appeal efforts, dates were set Thursday for the campaign finance violations trial of Baltimore Councilwoman Helen L. Holton. Judge Dennis M. Sweeney plans to hear the case Oct. 5 through Oct. 8 in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

After four days of deliberations, a Baltimore jury failed to reach a verdict Thursday evening on a man charged with raping and killing a Bolton Hill woman more than 20 years ago, leading a Circuit Court judge to declare a mistrial, according to the city state's attorney's office. Kevin Gerald Robinson was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Lisa Barselou, whose body was found beaten and submerged in the bathtub of her home in the 1700 block of Park Ave. in November 1989.

A trial date has been set for two women charged with disorderly conduct in an altercation with a Baltimore County police officer last fall. Kelli D. Oliver and Talaya R. Kirkland - the daughter and granddaughter, respectively, of Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver - will be tried on April 21 in District Court in Catonsville. The case will be handled by a prosecutor from the state's attorney's office in Baltimore City, Haven Kodeck, instead of a member of the county prosecutor's office.

A trial date has been set for two women charged with disorderly conduct in an altercation with a Baltimore County police officer last fall. Kelli D. Oliver and Talaya R. Kirkland -- the daughter and granddaughter, respectively, of Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver -- will be tried on April 21 in District Court in Catonsville. The case will be handled by a prosecutor from the State's Attorney's Office in Baltimore City, Haven Kodeck, as opposed to a member of the county prosecutor's office, a common practice when a defendant is linked to a governing body such as, in this case, the County Council.

West River man charged with attempted murder of Annapolis police officer A 46-year-old West River man was charged with attempted second-degree murder after Annapolis police said he nearly ran down an officer on bicycle patrol. Annapolis police said that about 3:15 p.m. Thursday, two officers approached a car parked near Larkin Street and Lafayette Avenue, with the officer on the bicycle stopping in front of the car. The car had a driver and one passenger, police said. Police said the other officer tapped on the driver's-side window, and when the driver looked up and saw him, he said, "Oh, [expletive]

Motions and other court documents in the first death penalty trial since the state adopted restrictions on capital punishment this year will be posted on the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Web site, court officials said. Lee Edward Stephens is one of two prisoners charged with the 2006 fatal stabbing of Correctional Officer David McGuinn at the now-closed Maryland House of Correction. His trial was recently postponed until Aug. 2. No trial date has been scheduled for the other defendant, Lamar C. Harris.

Trial dates have been set in the cases of two teenagers accused of stabbing another teen at The Mall in Columbia parking lot in January. Bernardo Leconte, 18, of Columbia is scheduled to go to trial May 19. Cordero D. Taylor, 16, of Forestville in Prince George's County, has been charged as an adult and has a juvenile-waiver hearing scheduled April 25 and a trial date of June 30. Both have been charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, first-...

The pretrial motions hearing scheduled today for a former Glenelg High School teacher accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with students has been postponed. Although a date has not been set, the hearing for Joseph Samuel Ellis, 25, will be reset before his Aug. 20 trial date, according to T. Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the Howard County state's attorney's office. Ellis taught history before his Jan. 8 arrest. Meanwhile, a trial scheduled to begin yesterday for Alan Silberman, a 62-year-old former Howard High School guidance counselor who was accused of having crack cocaine in his vehicle at school, also was postponed.

After 14 canceled court dates and nearly 900 days since a former neighbor was charged with capital murder in her mother's 1988 slaying, Jennifer Shereika Scott wrote the latest trial date in pencil. Out of frustration, she and her brother, Dan Shereika, made a request unprecedented in Maryland: They asked a judge for an expedited trial date for the man accused of the crime, Alexander Wayne Watson Jr., and - short of a dire emergency - to stick to it. Their right to attend a trial was being compromised, they argued.

Former Blast coach Tim Wittman likely will be facing a trial in September after a hearing on Monday in Stockton, Calif., left his misdemeanor case unresolved. According to Keith McIntosh, deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County, Wittman's attorney, Harry Hudson, asked for a jury trial on Monday. A readiness conference has been scheduled for Aug. 21, and the jury trial date has been set for Sept. 5. McIntosh said the August date will be held to ensure everyone involved in the case can make the September date.