On November 17, 2020, Circuit Judge Stacy McCormack ruled that Darius Devon Mackell was not guilty of murder, robbery, and firearms charges stemming from the death of Dontae Simmons in 2018. Judge McCormack absolved Mackell of those charges in part because she did not find the prosecution’s witness credible. Per The Baltimore Sun, Judge McCormack thought that witness “Esteban Uribe-Rojas could not be taken for his word and there was no evidence to corroborate his [...]

In Mid-November, a DEA agent – dressed up like a FedEx driver – dropped off a package of cocaine at home in Baltimore. A woman answered the door and accepted the package, so police started planning to get a search warrant. Before the warrant could come through, The Baltimore Sun reports, police “said a man, later identified as 25-year-old Stephen Waters, walked out of the home and looked ‘frantically up and down the street.’” In [...]

There is an old trope in film and television about pleading “insanity” to go free from a murder case. In Maryland, claiming that a client is “not criminally responsible” is a tough row to hoe, and it is not used all that often. Which is why the murder case of Tyrique Hudson, and the subsequent ruling of Circuit Judge Michael Wachs, turned out to be quite different than expected. The Capital Gazette reports that James [...]

Most people take for granted that they can just hop into our car and get from one place to the other. Certain medical conditions, however, may bar certain individuals from doing that, because those conditions (or prescribed medications) make driving unsafe. However, a sudden medical emergency is often unexpected. A heart attack, a stroke, a dangerous rise or drop in blood pressure: each of these can occur without warning. If they happen in a car, [...]

Maryland lawmakers have increased the severity and penalties for charge of strangulation, making it a felony crime instead of a misdemeanor. This change coincided with Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you have been charged with strangulation, you will face a tougher battle to retain your rights and freedoms. A special unit at Frederick Health Hospital is tasked with helping to investigate by evaluating potential victims of domestic violence and the injuries they’ve sustained. The findings [...]

On October 1, 2020, changes to Maryland’s hate crime laws went into effect, giving prosecutors a broader reach when it comes to obtaining a conviction. From now on, if you are charged with a hate crime in Maryland, prosecutors no longer have to link your actions to hate alone. This is going to make for murky waters when it comes to being charged with this felony crime and you’re going to need a stellar criminal [...]

The Constitution of the United States delineates areas of jurisdiction within the nation, allotting certain obligations and rights to both the federal government and state governments. Jurisdiction involves a court’s power to hear and adjudicate cases. Under criminal law, the imposition of punishment is connected with the proper jurisdiction. If a court does not have jurisdiction, any convictions are sentences issued by that court are not enforceable. Each of the 50 states has its own [...]