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Court of Appeals Rejects Federal Rule On ‘Sham Affidavits’ in 4-3 Decision
A mother’s affidavit that contradicted her earlier sworn deposition testimony was enough to defeat a landlord’s motion for summary judgment in a lead-paint poisoning case, the Court of Appeals held yesterday.The 4-3 decision reverses the Court of Special Appeals, which had adopted the federal rule on so-called “sham affidavits” in Maryland’s first published opinion on[...]
There’s Nothing Mini About the Jury Pool
Apart from the enormous numbers of cases, clients and dollars tied up in the mass asbestos litigation just begun in Baltimore City Circuit Court, one of the least heralded but most important numbers is that of eligible citizens available to sit on the juries.In a city with a population that has been declining for a […]
Crab Processors: FTC Vote ‘Beginning of the End’
A decision against trade relief for U.S. crab processors battling Asian imports threatens the existence of the domestic industry, a trade group said Wednesday.The Blue Crab Coalition, the trade group that sought to restrict imported crabmeat through tariffs or quotas, said the 4-2 vote Tuesday “marks the beginning of the end for the U.S. crabmeat […]
Baltimore Police Officer Fights for His Job After Suspension for Hairstyle
A Rastafarian police officer stripped of his badge for refusing to cut his dredlocks is fighting the decision, claiming that cutting his hair would violate his religious beliefs.Antoine Chambers, who has been on the force for six years, says the new policy is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, has threatened to file suit […]
Iran Ordered to Pay Excess of $327M for Deaths of U.S. Students
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Iranian government and three key leaders to pay more than $327 million to the families and estates of two American students killed by a bomb in Jerusalem.In an order issued yesterday, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth entered judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the […]
Black Public Housing Plaintiffs Win A Court Decision on Redevelopment
African-American public housing residents yesterday succeeded in blocking a 1998 court order that allowing housing authorities to demolish two large Baltimore City public housing developments and rebuild them as mixed-income senior housing.The effect of the ruling is unclear in light of Saturday’s demolition at one of the two complexes, the high rise building at the […]
Florida Man, 79, Charged With Bilking Marylanders in $1.5M Ponzi Scheme
Maryland state prosecutors charged a 79-year-old Florida man yesterday with fleecing more than 400 people in a $1.5 million Ponzi scheme he operated for seven years.In papers filed by Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. in Baltimore City Circuit Court, E. Robins Rich, of Temple Terrace, Fla., was charged with investment adviser fraud, securities […]
No Attempted Murder Charge for Assailant With HIV
An HIV-positive man authorities say knowingly had unprotected sex with a woman was ordered held without bond on assault charges yesterday by a Prince George’s County judge. Solomon Tarch Hobbs, 37, may have also infected other women in the county, Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Allen Moore II said during the bond hearing. “He knows he […]
ILN May Be Gone, but Some Liability Remains for Lead-Paint Poisoning
[IMGCAP(1)]A Baltimore jury has returned a $3 million lead-paint verdict against a company shut down in 1991 by securities regulators, who charged Lanham-based International Loan Network with buying dilapidated real estate as part of a massive pyramid scheme.ILN bought property in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., at tax sales, promising its investors returns as high as […]
ABA Policymakers Vote No on MDP
The American Bar Association yesterday reaffirmed a controversial rule forbidding lawyers from entering partnerships with nonlawyers, including accountants and financial planners, and disbanded the commission studying the issue. “It’s time to put this away, folks,” said Alfred Carlton of Raleigh, N.C., a member of the ABA’s judicial independence committee.But that won’[...]
LAW SUMMARY
Townsend Salutes Talbott County’s Teen Court Talbot County, with the help of Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and other officials, yesterday celebrated the opening of a justice program run by teen-agers for teen-agers. Located in Easton’s Talbott County Circuit Courthouse, the Talbott County Teen Court is operated by trained volunteers from Easton High School who […]
Tugboat Operator Sues Hale Intermodal Claiming Half-Off Offer on Bills
A Baltimore-based barge operation founded by First Mariner Bank’s Edwin F. Hale Sr. has refused to pay invoices worth well over half a million dollars, offering instead 50 cents on the dollar, a Virginia tugboat operator has alleged.In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Baltimore, McAllister Towing of Virginia Inc. claims that […]
