Maryland’s new pretrial release rule dramatically decreased the use of cash bail but two recent independent studies concluded additional education and resources are needed. The Maryland Office of the Public Defender sent 64 volunteers to observe bail reviews in multiple ...

Tagged with: bail maryland judiciary Maryland Office of the Public Defender maryland rules pretrial release

The Court of Special Appeals on Thursday temporarily stayed a Baltimore criminal trial so it can rule on a police officer’s motion to prohibit the defendant from questioning the officer about his internal affairs records. A Baltimore city judge ruled ...

Tagged with: Court of Special Appeals impeachment Maryland Office of the Public Defender sgt. joseph donato

Criminal defense attorneys celebrated a victory for transparency this week as they were given permission by a Baltimore city judge to attempt to introduce internal affairs records for a police sergeant into evidence in their clients’ cases. But statements from ...

Tagged with: baltimore city state's attorney's office Baltimore Police Department discovery internal affairs division Maryland Office of the Public Defender

Defense attorneys will seek to have evidence from more than 30 internal affairs records relating to a Baltimore police sergeant admitted in multiple criminal cases after a judge granted them access to the files last week. Attorneys for 20 defendants argued ...

Tagged with: Baltimore Police Department discovery internal affairs division Maryland Office of the Public Defender

Individuals who have active failure-to-appear warrants on misdemeanor offenses in Baltimore will have the opportunity to vacate the warrants and get a new court date scheduled through a program by the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law’s ...

Tagged with: baltimore city district court Maryland Office of the Public Defender University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Bail hearings for those arrested during the riots and looting earlier this week took over the city’s district court system Wednesday, when only the John R. Hargrove Sr. courthouse on Patapsco Avenue remained open for the sole purpose of hearing bail reviews. The public defender’s office was originally told that about 80 defendants were on the bail review docket Wednesday, but deputy district public defender Natalie Finegar said her office hoped many more would undergo their bail review via video streams piped into courtrooms before the court adjourned for the day.

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Language justifying an expansion of the state Office of Public Defender's Towson office lease was based on a previous staffing expansion.

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The Office of the Public Defender failed to ensure clients were financially eligible, and the agency failed to submit invoices to the state comptroller for timely payment, according to an audit released Thursday by the Office of Legislative Audits.

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The Maryland Office of the Public Defender has been providing representation since June to all defendants seeking counsel in their bail review hearings. But a Justice Policy Institute report released last month on the bail system in Baltimore found the ...

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The Maryland Office of the Public Defender on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stop allowing police to collect DNA samples from people arrested for violent crimes, contrary to a ruling by the state’s highest court.

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