A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.
From The Baltimore Sun: Jurors Will Be Anonymous, but Not Sequestered in First Gray Trial
“Jurors in the upcoming trial of a Baltimore Police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray will remain anonymous, but they will not be sequestered, a judge ruled this morning.
“Judge Barry Williams ruled on a number of outstanding motions in the case against Officer William Porter, who faces manslaughter and other charges in Gray's death.
“He ruled that prosecutors can use two civilian videos that Porter's attorneys had attempted to block. He ruled that prosecutors will not be able to discuss the alleged illegality of Gray's initial arrest. And he denied a motion to limit the number of character witnesses for Porter.”
From The Washington Post: Maryland Court Approves New Rules on Firms That Buy Rights to Settlement Payouts
"Maryland’s highest court has approved sweeping changes that will drastically change how companies purchase the rights to legal settlement payouts, effectively remaking how a controversial industry does business with some of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable residents.
"In particular, companies interested in buying payments belonging to recipients of so-called structured settlements will now need to file significantly more information so that judges can better decide whether a proposed deal is in a recipient’s best interests. The changes, approved Thursday, will slow down the court-approval process and discourage what judicial officials called the 'rubber-stamping' of some petitions.
“'There were no guidelines before,' said Judge Alan M. Wilner, who chairs an advisory committee that last month proposed the additional rules. 'The judges were left with whatever the [company] was telling them, which was next to nothing. Often, the [settlement recipient] wasn’t there in court, so I don’t know . . . whether the judges who were having these things before them even knew what kinds of findings they had to make.'
"That disconnect, abetted by what Wilner called procedural 'gaps,' allowed firms to 'take improper advantage of vulnerable recipients of structured settlement payments.'"
From The Washington Post: Md. Attorney General’s Office Makes Rare Move Into Street Crime Indictments
"The Maryland attorney general’s office has indicted 15 Baltimore men on drug conspiracy charges, signaling a new push into prosecuting street crime by a state agency long known for white-collar and environmental cases.
"Officials said the indictments capped a months-long investigation between the Baltimore Police Department and the attorney general’s new Organized Crime Unit into drug dealing around the 2400 block of Greenmount Avenue in East Baltimore. Maryland State Police also provided assistance.
"That area was previously the target of a massive 2013 indictment brought by the Baltimore state’s attorney’s office against alleged members and associates of the Black Guerrilla Family. At least two of the defendants in this week’s indictment were charged in that prior case.
"Local prosecutors — and to a lesser extent, federal prosecutors — usually handle such criminal cases. Prior to 2007, the attorney general’s criminal investigations unit handled charges related to misconduct in office, bribery, perjury, falsification of public records and criminal violations of Maryland tax law.
"Then-Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler created a criminal division and took on gang prosecutions in conjunction with authorities across the state, although in a limited number of cases."