Verdict

A man whose car killed two people in 2009 on a section of highway known for drag racing was found guilty Friday of two counts of manslaughter. Donneil Raeburn, 27, who was injured in the crash of his Chevrolet Impala in the early hours of June 21, 2009, when it rammed into the two pedestrians and another car as it raced west on Interstate 70, could receive a maximum of 20 years in prison at sentencing. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Patrick Cavanaugh, who presided over Raeburn's bench trial, did not schedule a sentencing date pending arrangements for a pre-sentence investigation of the defendant, who remains in custody with no bail set. The judge also found Raeburn guilty of several lesser charges, including reckless driving, failure to control his speed and driving under the influence of alcohol.

A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday after a Baltimore County jury became deadlocked in the case of a construction worker accused of making a death threat against the governor. Walter C. Abbott, 47, who admitted sending Gov. Martin O'Malley a curse-filled email three years ago threatening to strangle him, maintained that it had merely been a ploy to draw attention to the cause of illegal immigration and that his words were protected by the First Amendment. It was Abbott's second trial on the charges.

Jurors in the trial of twin brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson, accused of setting a pit bull on fire in 2009, will resume deliberation next week, after twice indicating Friday that they were having trouble reaching an agreement. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill gave the struggling jury an "Allen Charge" instruction Friday afternoon to help bring them to a consensus and avoid a mistrial. The Allen Charge typically urges jurors to continue deliberations and reconsider their individual views if they're in the minority.

Jurors in the animal cruelty case against brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson will resume deliberations Friday morning, after spending nine hours Thursday considering the case. The jury must decide whether the 18-year-old twins set fire to a pit bull known as "Phoenix" in 2009, then ran away, as the prosecution says — or whether the defendants have been made fall guys by Baltimore police, who were under pressure from outraged animal welfare advocates to close the case, as the defense argues.

A Baltimore County jury on Monday began considering the fate of Brian Maurice Savage, 22, accused of beating to death his girlfriend's 15-month-old baby last year. The jury retired to deliberate after hearing closing arguments from Savage's attorney, Roland Walker, and Assistant State's Attorney Karen Pilarski. Savage's trial began last Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court. The defendant faces counts of first- and second-degree murder and child abuse in the death of Cameron Justin Williams, who had been left in Savage's care on Nov. 1, 2009, while the boy's mother went to work.

A $590,000 jury award to a mother who said her child was harmed by lead paint in the family's rented Baltimore home was overturned this week by the state's second-highest court. The Court of Special Appeals ordered a new trial to determine whether Tyaih Dodd suffered lead paint poisoning in the house in the 2200 block of E. Lanvale St. It was among about 700 houses controlled by companies connected to Stanley Rochkind that fell under a 2001 consent order with the Maryland Department of the Environment to reduce or eliminate lead paint hazards.

Fourteen more people who say they were exposed to carbon monoxide while working at Ruth's Chris in the Pier 5 Hotel in February 2008 have filed a joint lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court seeking $39 million in compensatory damages for each of three counts It's the second bite at the apple for their lawyers, the Murphy Firm — led by William H. "Billy" Murphy Jr. — who already won a $34 million jury verdict in the incident this summer, splitting...

The 21-year-old Glen Burnie man who shot and killed a Frostburg State University basketball player and wounded another was hoping that a jury would agree with his assertion that he acted in self-defense. But hours after the jury in Allegany County Circuit Court got the case, those hopes faded. The panel told the judge they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the first-degree murder trial of Tyrone Hall, and it became clear that he would not be acquitted. Shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, the former Mount St. Joseph soccer standout agreed to plead guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Brandon Carroll of Waldorf and to second-degree assault in the wounding of Ellis Hartridge Jr. of Washington.

The jury has returned guilty verdicts on all counts against Jerome Williams, 17, and Charles McGaney, 22, two of three men who were on trial for the murder of former Baltimore City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris. A third defendant, Gary Collins, 22, was found not guilty of murder, but was found guilty of assault and weapons charges. More to come...

A Baltimore jury convicted two young men and acquitted another of murder Friday in the death of former City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr., who was killed two years ago after he and a woman stopped by a jazz club to borrow a corkscrew as the facility was about to be robbed. Jerome Williams, 17, and Charles McGaney, 22, were each found guilty on 28 counts, including felony first-degree murder, assault, handgun, and robbery charges. Gary Collins, 22, was acquitted of murder but found guilty on all of the other charges.