Prosecutors agreed to request sentence modification, not insist on it

BY: Steve Lash
POSTED: May 22, 2011
Tags: appeal, armed robber, convicted, Court of Appeals, defense attorney, maryland, paul andrew tatem, plea, prosecutor, sentence modification, Wicomico County Circuit Judge Kathleen L. Beckstead

Warning to Maryland defense attorneys: When it comes to requests to modify sentences, make sure the prosecution agrees not only to a modification hearing but to join you in pressing for the modification itself. Convicted armed robber Paul Andrew Tatem discovered this the hard way. On Friday, Maryland’s top court unanimously upheld a judge’s reimposition [...]

Confrontation Clause argued in murder appeal

BY: Steve Lash
POSTED: May 10, 2011
Tags: appeal, Church Square Shopping Center, constitutional rights, Court of Appeals, defense attorney, first-degree murder conviction, maryland, Michael West, murder, overturn, Rodney Johnson, Ronald Cox, Todd Dargan

ANNAPOLIS – A defense attorney urged Maryland’s top court Tuesday to overturn his client’s first-degree murder conviction and life sentence, saying the man was denied his constitutional rights to confront at trial the person whose incriminating statements were referenced by prosecutors in court. The appellant, Ronald Cox, should have been allowed to cross-examine Rodney Johnson [...]

Tapes will complicate P.G. County exec. Johnsons’ defense

BY: Steve Lash
POSTED: November 15, 2010
Tags: arrest, charged, defense attorney, evidence, executive, fbi, federal, jack johnson, Prince George's County
Comments: 1

The defense attorneys representing Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson have their work cut out for them, say defense attorneys observing the case. A tapped telephone conversation between Johnson and his wife appears to be the most damning evidence against them in the federal government’s charges that they destroyed evidence in an ongoing investigation, [...]