Crime Stories

Written by Staff Writer The Baltimore, Maryland crime rate continues to steadily escalate and a Baltimore state delegate by the name of Pat McDonough thinks he might have a solution. Namely, the "Stand Your Ground Law", which exists to some degree in a number of states including, but not limited to, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and might well be on its way to the city of Baltimore if McDonough has his way. For many years, Baltimore and other Maryland residents have been held to the standards of the "Duty to Retreat" law. Duty to Retreat also applies to residents of Virginia. McDonough argues that encouraging law abiding citizens to turn the other cheek in the event of a physical altercation or attack might not be benefitting the city. And he’s not entirely alone in this view. McDonough’s support base is on the rise, with his position appealing to…

Written by staff writer A former Montgomery County elementary school teacher pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor assault charges for the alleged inappropriate touching of four 11-year-old girls, resulting in three years of probation and a ban on teaching children under the age of 16 throughout that period. The plea, however, did little little to explain whether 31-year-old Timothy Krupica was actually guilty of more serious child sex abuse claims and chose to plead to the lesser crimes in an effort to avoid extensive jail time and further damage to his reputation, or to spare the alleged victims the ordeal of testifying in trial. Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Jordan, who presided over the matter, speculated that no one will likely ever know the truth and was quoted by the Washington Post as saying, “I don’t know if any of us will know -- any of us, no matter which side…

Written by Tracy Manzer, Managing Editor Price Benowitz LLP The ACLU of Maryland has challenged the Baltimore Police Department to meaningfully monitor its use of the highly controversial “stop-and-frisk” tactic after finding less than one percent of the individuals stopped by Baltimore police officers last year were actually searched. In a recent press release, the ACLU included the BPD's most recent response to a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request for information on the department's use of stop-and-frisk over the last several years. In that response, the police department noted that of the 123,121 stops conducted by its officers in 2012, only 494 of those people were searched. The results of the searches were even less impressive with the department logging the seizure of just 10 controlled substances, nine guns and one knife. In its public call for change, the ACLU expressed skepticism of the numbers released by the BPD…