On the Record

Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young has made a habit recently of voting against settlements for police misconduct lawsuits, saying that better training would prevent many of the costly suits.

But Young voted for the $245,000 settlement for former police helicopter pilot Samuel K. Miller that was approved unanimously at Wednesday’s Board of Estimates meeting. Miller had accused his superiors in the Aviation Unit of ostracizing him and tricking him into resigning in 2007 after he wrote a letter that detailed waste and misuse of the unit’s resources, including a “dog and pony show” helicopter landing at the school of the unit commander’s children.

After voting with his colleagues to approve Miller’s settlement, Young called Miller a “whistleblower.”

“I respect that,” Young said. “He should not have been disciplined or lost his job because of that.”

Young voted against a $45,000 settlement for Rodney Hueston, whose lawsuit alleged officers Anthony S. Weems and Renard D. Owens broke his left arm during an unlawful arrest in 2009. Charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and possession of an open container of alcohol were dropped against Hueston after he was treated for his injuries.

Hueston’s settlement was approved despite Young’s “No” vote.

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Some next-day thoughts on the unexpected outcome of the two-and-a-half-day bankruptcy hearing of Alter Communications, publisher of the Baltimore Jewish Times (in which the judge rejected the restructuring plans of both Alter and its printer-turned-creditor, H.G. Roebuck & Son Inc.):

The federal judge in the case, James F. Schneider, lightened the proceedings several times with his ultra-dry wit. At one point Maria Ellena Chavez-Ruark, Alter’s attorney, was reading back word-for-word Schneider’s decision to confirm Alter’s plan in December — a decision that was later overturned by a higher court.

“It sounds so good and yet the (U.S.) District Court reversed it,” Schneider interrupted with a wistful sigh. “Such lovely prose.”

But when it came time for Schneider to make his decision he turned deathly serious, calling out not only the parties involved for their two years of bitter litigation but also their attorneys for attempting to play on his emotions.

Schneider prefaced his remarks by saying he thought Ruark and Roebuck’s attorneys, William L. Hallam and Kevin J. Pascale were some of the finest lawyers he knew. The judge then proceeded to scold them for “the extent they’ve gotten so close to the facts and issues of this case that they’ve lost their objectivity and taken on the personas of their  clients.”

Ouch.

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“Great morning, everyone,” Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young said in calling to order today’s giddy, post-election Board of Estimates meeting.

There was plenty of back-slapping between Young and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose victories were nearly as dominant as the Ravens’ beatdown of the Steelers two days ago. The normally staid mayor also wryly congratulated comptroller Joan M. Pratt on her “hard-fought” re-election (Pratt ran unopposed).

But once the good vibes died down and the council bit into the meat of the meeting, Young disagreed with the rest of his colleagues on a $30,000 police misconduct settlement , casting the lone “no” vote as the settlement slid through on the consent agenda.

Though it was a relatively small settlement, Young spokesman Lester Davis said the council president wants to send a message that the city is spending too much on police misconduct claims as a whole. He said Young thinks the police department should provide better training to prevent the legitimate claims and the city should be more willing to go to court and fully challenge less solid claims.

“He’s been pretty consistent in terms of wanting to get his message across,” Davis said. “For him, it’s just a belief that the city can not afford to continue to pay out this money.”

According to the city’s Law Department, the city spent $7.25 million settling police misconduct claims between mid-2007 and mid-2010.

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Looks like it’s going to be another hot week in paradise Maryland this week. Cool off with this week’s legal news below.

• More Casey Anthony hubbub. A Texas search company is suing Anthony over the money it spent looking for her daughter, Caylee. The company says Anthony knew her daughter was dead, although she said the girl was alive.
• Mock juries in the Casey Anthony case also found her not guilty.
• The backdrop to Nicole Sesker’s homicide. The stepdaughter of a Baltimore police commissioner was killed in 2008.
• Does the Maryland Local Tort Claims Act make sense?
• When I say “go” you say “fight.” Go. Fight. Go. Fight. A cheerleader loses her suit over not making the squad.
• Name something you’re not supposed to discuss at work. Survey says: salary.
• Sorry, but this baby is not for sale.

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Welcome back. Here’s a rundown of what’s happening in the legal world:

• In civil suit, the lawyer repping the man killed by Baltimore City Police Officer Ghaiji Tshamba will focus on the officer’s disciplinary record.
• Banks continue to be in the hot seat over the foreclosure crisis. Did some banks wait to alert regulators about loans going south?
• New York man allowed to sue his county for the cost to rent a Ferrari.
• Judge-directed negotiation could curb increasing malpractice costs in healthcare.
• Did it happen the way we think it did? Listening in on LBJ’s civil rights conversations.
• Maryland’s ACLU is questioning a petition to overturn the DREAM Act.

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You may be back on the job this Monday, but at least 1,000 legal types lost their jobs in May. So much for all that optimism in April. With that, let’s check out some law links, shall we?

• Prince George’s County lawyer and power broker Peter O’Malley III died last week. O’Malley, who was not a relative of the governor, paved the way for sports complexes built by the late Abe Pollin and was heavily involved in Democratic politics.
• Are Baltimore City’s towing companies too aggressive?
• David Ball, the “dean of damages” says there’s only one surefire tool to use when cross-examining experts.
• New male partners outnumbered new female partners 2-to-1 this year.
• Make sure you get your fair say in court.
• A former assistant football coach at USC says the NCAA defamed him and destroyed his career in its investigation into Reggie Bush.

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Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of the law blog roundup. Hope you enjoyed your long weekend. Let’s get to the links.

• Woman finds way to reach teens in the Baltimore City Detention Center.
• Regular readers of The Daily Record will recognize this story of the doctor vs. the drinkers. (See Tiki Bar photo above).
• Reminiscing on judges and past presidents of the Baltimore County Bar Association.
• Do law schools game the job numbers? One San Diego law school grad thinks so.
• My article today looks at the job market for recent law school grads. It’s not pretty out there, but here are some tips to make job candidates stand out from the associate director for employee relations at Brooklyn Law School.
• Meanwhile, Carolyn Elefant advises lawyers on how to avoid lousy law jobs.
• The man who calls himself the toughest sheriff in America has some personnel issues — three members of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s staff have been arrested on drug and human trafficking charges, including one who is allegedly eight months pregnant with the child of a drug lord. Drama.

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As one of our website commenters noted this week, who hasn’t wanted to stick it to the man? Many people equate beating a traffic ticket with just that, and James Liskow’s story of finding a typo in a 5-year-old statute struck a chord with Daily Record readers, making it the most-read story this week by the paper’s legal affairs reporting team.

1. Speed camera ticket tossed over typo in Md. law – by Danny Jacobs
James Liskow beat his speed camera ticket literally by a letter in the law.

2. Md. disbars estate-planning lawyer over forgeries – by Danielle Ulman
The state’s top court has disbarred a Virginia lawyer also admitted to practice in Maryland after he allowed a woman to forge her terminally ill mother’s signature on estate documents.

3. Jolivet’s son convicted of theft, plans appeal – by Brendan Kearney
The son of Maryland Minority Contractors Association President Arnold M. Jolivet has been convicted of theft for charging more than $4,000 in car rental bills over several months to his state-issued credit card.

4. Top court sides with trial lawyer in separate cases decided on same day – by Danielle Ulman
Workdays don’t get much better than the one criminal lawyer Andrew V. Jezic had last Tuesday.

5. Judge acquits 3rd Baltimore officer of misconduct – Brendan Kearney
In his first trial as Baltimore City state’s attorney, Gregg L. Bernstein convinced the jury but not the judge.

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New Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein made his courtroom debut during a week packed with high-profile legal news. Here are the five most-read stories by The Daily Record’s legal affairs reporting team.

1. Nordstrom found negligent in 2005 knife attack – by Danny Jacobs
A Montgomery County jury has awarded nearly $1.6 million to two women who were stabbed while shopping at a Nordstrom almost six years ago.

2. Bernstein opens trial of Baltimore officers accused of kidnapping – by Danny Jacobs
Gregg Bernstein introduced himself to jurors Wednesday as the Baltimore City state’s attorney. Then he introduced the three police officers accused of kidnapping and abandoning two Baltimore teenagers, pointing to each one for emphasis.

3. Divorce, punishment and protest bills pass – by Steve Lash
The General Assembly ended its 2011 session last week having passed legislation pertaining to parting, punishment and protest.

4. U.S. ordered to reveal identities of Currie’s unindicted co-conspirators – by Steve Lash
Federal prosecutors must hand over the names of state Sen. Ulysses S. Currie’s unindicted co-conspirators to the defense team in his bribery case, a judge said Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

5. Opponents file new lawsuit against Superblock plan – by Danny Jacobs
Opponents of the proposed Superblock redevelopment have filed another lawsuit to stop the project, this time alleging approved demolition plans would violate a historic preservation agreement.

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A few notes from day two of Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein’s first trial as top prosecutor.

-My story today alluded to two, 55-inch flat screen TVs that were unused during the first day of the trial. Today, they briefly were used by defense lawyer Ken Ravenell to show a still of surveillance video of the West Baltimore corner where the three police officers are accused of kidnapping two teenagers.

-Ravenell finished up his cross-examination of one of the teens, Shawnquin Woodland, which lasted approximately three hours over two days. Most of the interactions followed the same pattern: Ravenell would restate something Woodland told the jury under direct examination; Ravenell would show Woodland the transcript of a statement the teenager gave during previous interviews with police or prosecutors that contradicted what he told jurors; Woodland would deny ever saying what was in the transcript.

Bernstein, when it was his turn to re-direct the witness, re-read portions of the transcript aloud with Woodland and concluded by getting Woodland to confirm, over defense attorney objections, he was telling jurors the truth.

Woodland seemed to give a lot of contradictory answers depending on who was asking the questions, but he always sounded certain in whatever answer he gave. In other words, he sounded like the 17-year-old kid he is. I can imagine the following exchange would resonate with the parents of any teenager:

Ravenell: Did he ask you about the transcript?

Woodland: Yes.

Ravenell: What did he ask you?

Woodland: Nothing.

-What I was most interested to see today were the actions of defense lawyer Dave Irwin, whose client is the only one who opted for a bench trial. Both Ravenell and Michael Belsky, who represented the third officer, hammered Woodland about his seemingly contradictory statements. But Irwin declined to cross-examine Woodland when given the chance and also turned down Judge Timothy J. Doory’s offer to ask questions following Bernstein’s re-direct.

While Ravenell and Belsky loudly and repeatedly objected during Bernstein’s re-direct, Irwin remained silent, occasionally jotting down notes. We’ll keep tabs on the bench trial/jury trial dynamic as the trial moves forward.

The prosecution will continue with its case Thursday afternoon.

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