On my 12th birthday (February 15, 1958), I took the McDonogh scholarship test.  Fifty years ago this past year, on September 9, 1958, I became a new seventh-grade boarding student.  Away from home for the first time, I became so home sick that I insisted on leaving McDonogh.  Four individuals prevented that from happening – my Mother (who died in 1991), Headmaster Robert L. “Bob” Lamborn (now 91), Middle School Head Q.D. Thompson (now 87), and eighth-grade boarding student, John Sieverts (now 63 and my life long friend).  In The Week of June 5, 1964, I wrote the following: (more…)

On Friday, January 9, 2009, the Baltimore City grand jury issued a 31-page, 12-count indictment against Mayor Sheila Dixon.  There were four counts of perjury, three counts of theft, three counts of fraudulent misappropriate by fiduciary, and two counts of misconduct in office.  The investigation began about three years ago by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, who is the federal prosecutor.  That investigation did not result in criminal charges.  The Mayor was then investigated by State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh, Esq., and that investigation resulted in an indictment on the last day of the 18-month grand jury. (more…)

University of Baltimore School of Law Conducts Experiment on Eyewitness Identification

Most criminal cases boil down to the “whodunit?” This means that, in most criminal cases, there is no question that the crime was committed. The only question for the jury is whether the Defendant committed it. The prosecutor’s job is to persuade the jury – beyond a reasonable doubt – that the Defendant is the culprit. Studies show that juries look for certain things. Most jurors’ experience with the criminal justice system comes from watching television and movies. In any event, juries in criminal cases look for things such as DNA and fingerprint evidence, confessions, eyewitness identifications. (more…)