Posted on May 26, 2010 in Appeals

Today in the case of State v. Campbell, Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin and White’s criminal appeals lawyers convinced the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to reverse a Circuit Court for Baltimore County Judge thereby winning the freedom of a client serving a ten year sentence-without parole. The firm did not represent the client at the trial, but after the bad result, was retained to handle the appeal.

The Facts:

Baltimore County police see a drug transaction conducted from a Lincoln navigator. The police stop the buyer who says he bought drugs from the vehicle. The police lose sight of the vehicle. Four hours later, the police stop the car with guns drawn. The defense argued there was no probable cause to stop the vehicle four hours later because the police had no description of the sellers of narcotics four hours before. Judge Dana Levitz of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County said there was probable cause and sentenced the defendant to ten years without parole.

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 Posted on May 26, 2010 in Appeals

Today, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals vacated a murder conviction because defendant’s right to counsel violated.

Facts:

The victim was stabbed in Hagerstown Maryland. Based on a review of images captured by security cameras, Adams was a suspect. Adams fled the scene but was picked up on a parole violation in Baltimore. He was brought back to Hagerstown for questioning. He was advised of his rights per Miranda, executed a waiver and made inculpatory statements. Adams was then charged with first degree murder and counsel entered his appearance. Months later, the prosecutor asked the detective to serve on Adams the notice seeking life without parole. The detective went to the detention center. Criminal defense counsel was not present. After seeing the notice, Adams said “why is the state going after me so hard?” The detective said “because you stabbed a guy 32 times.” Adams responded that he only stabbed the guy seven times and then went into detail about where he stabbed him. Defense counsel moved to suppress the statements. The trial court denied his motion.

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 Posted on May 24, 2010 in Sentencing

As a Baltimore Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney, I routinely handle matters charged in the juvenile courts of Baltimore County, Baltimore City and throughout the metropolitan area. Last week the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in Graham v, Florida, in what amounted to the most significant case concerning juvenile sentencing since it ruled that juvenile offenders could not face capital punishment.

In Graham, the Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that juvenile offenders could not face a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for crimes other than murder. The 6-3 spread is a little deceiving as Chief Justice Roberts agreed with the result in the Graham case but did not concur with the blanket prohibition on life without parole sentence adopted by the majority. Instead, Roberts opined that the sentences should be looked at on a “case by case” basis. Here are the facts of the Graham case:

In 2003 when Graham was sixteen years old, he was convicted of armed robbery for his participation in a robbery of a restaurant. In Florida, the maximum penalty for armed robbery is life without the possibility of parole. However, Graham’s attorney was able to successfully negotiate a plea bargain in which Graham was place on supervised probation. While on probation, Graham was involved in a home invasion robbery. This charge resulted in a violation of probation on the original armed robbery charge. Once he was found in violation of his probation, the court entered the maximum sentence allowed by law of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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 Posted on May 20, 2010 in Murder

As a Baltimore Maryland Criminal Attorney I am often confronted with cases in which the Baltimore City Police (and occasionally police from other jurisdictions) take a simple misdemeanor case and charge it as a major felony. I have blogged about overcharging by the Baltimore City Police in the past and unfortunately it seems to be happening more and more frequently. Although these cases are typically reduced by State’s Attorney’s Office at the preliminary hearing, the fact that the police originally charged the case as a felony can result in major negative implications for the person charged.

First of all, the fact that the case was overcharged will almost invariably result in a much higher bail than would have otherwise been set had the case been properly charged as a misdemeanor. The increased bail amount will at best cost the defendant additional money to secure bail and at worst, cause the person to have to remain in jail until the case is set in for the preliminary hearing or even until the trial which could be months in the future. Also, the expungement statute precludes a person from having any count in a charging document expunged if the person is eventually convicted of any count. With criminal records so readily available these days on the Internet, having felony charges on one’s record, even if they are eventually dismissed, can cause serious problems for people in a variety of areas including employment, especially in today’s job market. I recently represented a person who was charged with attempted first degree murder for what was nothing more than a misdemeanor second degree assault. As in most cases, the overcharging of the case caused severe repercussions for the client. Here are the facts of the case:

My client is a 35 year old Baltimore native with no prior criminal record. He is a college graduate and runs his own business employing approximately 25 people. He went out to dinner with his girlfriend and another couple one night last month. After dinner they went to a bar to have drinks. As they were walking through the crowd at this bar, my client’s girlfriend was touched in a sexual manner by another patron. My client confronted the other patron who took an aggressive posture with my client and attempted to strike him. My client then shoved him to the ground and left the bar.

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 Posted on May 20, 2010 in Sex Offenses

https://www.silvermanthompson.com/lawyer-attorney-1300820.htmlAs Baltimore Maryland Criminal Attorneys, we are often called upon to defend college students and other young people who are charged with what is commonly termed “date rape” allegations. These allegations invariably involve young women who are highly intoxicated on drugs or alcohol engaging in sexual activity that they later allege was non-consensual. The vast majority of these cases involve situations wherein the young woman involved became voluntarily intoxicated but we have seen several cases in which the so called “date rape drug” was found to be in the alleged victim’s system.

We have successfully defended a large number of these cases many of which having occurred on or around one of the numerous college campuses in the area. We recently defended an individual in just such as case and were able to have all charges against him dismissed prior to trial. This particular individual did not retain us until after he was charged which was a mistake on his part as we have successfully prevented many similarly situated individuals from ever being charged. Here are the facts of the case:

Our client was a 21 year old college student who was attending one of the local Universities. (I am going to leave out or change some minor details to protect both the client and the young women involved in this situation). One evening about 18 months ago he attended an off campus party at the apartment of a friend. Not surprisingly, alcohol was served at this party in large amounts. My client and most of the other party goers drank excessively and became intoxicated.

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 Posted on May 19, 2010 in Altered / False Medical Records - Medical Malpractice

A Maryland man has won an $800,600 verdict in a malpractice case against a California surgeon. The award included $300,000 in punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The patient had a small skull based tumor that was threatening his hearing, and went to a doctor to remove the tumor. According to the lawsuit, the doctor removed something but it was not the tumor. The hospital’s pathology report supposedly showed that what was surgically removed was not a tumor. But instead of telling the patient, the lawsuit alleged that the doctor and/or others altered the report to hide from the patient the fact that the tumor actually was not removed. The patient subsequently lost his hearing and filed suit. A copy of an article on the case can be found here.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. attorney who handles many medical malpractice and other catastrophic injury cases, I have successfully handled many cases involving important medical records. Clients of mine frequently ask whether there is any way to tell whether medical records have been improperly altered. I always explain that there are ways, such as comparing them to other records, comparing them to records which have been sent to others, and forensic document examination. At times, I have had medical records evaluated by forensic document examiners who can tell, using ink dating analysis or examination under special lighting, that documents have been altered. Computer systems even keep track of alterations of computerized medical records systems. Usually, when I can prove that a medical record was improperly altered, the case settles. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

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 Posted on May 19, 2010 in Infection Malpractice

A Baltimore County jury has awarded $1.44 million to the family of a man who died a day after spending six hours in a St. Joseph Medical Center emergency home. The verdict was against an emergency room doctor who works at St. Joseph.

The family in the case claimed that the man’s death from septic shock would have been prevented if he had received a proper broad-spectrum antibiotic and fluid when he first went to the emergency room. Instead, he was given an antibiotic to treat pneumonia and not enough fluid.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. attorney who handles many medical malpractice and other catastrophic injury cases, I have successfully handled many cases involving death due to sepsis. Many times, the death can be prevented with proper antibiotics, which are inexpensive to administer. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

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 Posted on May 19, 2010 in Heart Malpractice

A jury in Massachusetts has awarded a husband and wife $1.6 million in a malpractice case against a doctgor over the death of their son on a college basketball court. The young man, a Senior in college at Eastern Connecticut State University, collapsed during a game due to a congenital heart defect called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The family claimed that the doctor, who had examined the young man and found him eligible to play, missed the heart condition.

As an experienced Maryland and Washington, D.C. attorney who handles many medical malpractice and other catastrophic injury cases, I have successfully handled many death cases and even a number of cases involving hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This is a condition that can be easily diagnosed. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

Contact Andrew G. Slutkin with further questions or inquiries at 410-385-2786

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 Posted on May 19, 2010 in Paraplegia / Quadriplegia Malpractice

A jury in Tennessee has awarded a couple from Texas more than $22 million in a medical malpractice case. The Plaintiff in the case was left paralyzed from the waist down after complications from surgery for a broken leg.

Cases involving paralysis are extremely complicated and require an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. In addition to proving that the doctor or hospital did something wrong, the lawyer must be able to prove the nature and extent of future medical and other care, the cost of that care and the value of any lost wages or income.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have successfully handled many cases involving paralysis due to medical malpractice. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

Contact Andrew G. Slutkin with further questions or inquiries at 410-385-2786

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 Posted on May 14, 2010 in Divorce

As stated in our October 2, 2009 blog on alimony the Court may consider, among others, twelve different factors in deciding how much and for how long to award alimony. However, these factors provide very little guidance on how much alimony is appropriate based on income and financial figures. In Boemio v. Boemio, No. 57, September Term, 2009, the Court held that the courts are not limited to the twelve enumerated factors in the statue and that given the difficulty of translating those factors into a numerical award, courts may consult guidelines developed by a reasonable and neutral source. Such guidelines are fashioned similar to the Maryland Child Support guidelines and provide a numeric formula. The Circuit Court in this case consulted the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyer’s guidelines but the Court of Appeals held that courts may also consult other guidelines such as the Women’s Law Center Kaufman Alimony Guidelines.

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