Criminal justice

The neighborhood is divided over whether Brooklyn Day is worth celebrating this year.

Earl Lee, 28, of Mid-Govans, is set to be sentenced Oct. 1 in Baltimore Circuit Court on charges of first-degree murder, use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, and illegal possession of a regulated firearm.

Many former members of Greater Grace World Outreach flocked to the East Baltimore church Friday evening to protest leaders’ handling of allegations of child sex abuse — the subject of a Baltimore Banner investigation.

Tavon Smith, an MTA light-rail operator, was sentenced to 18 months after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment. Smith in 2022 was operating a light-rail train that struck a vehicle driven by St. Frances Academy football player Lamar Patterson, who was killed.

Melachi Brown, 21, of Windsor Mill, who pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter in a two-vehicle crash that killed six people working in a Baltimore Beltway work zone, was allowed by a judge to serve the remainder of his 18-month jail sentence on home detention.

“This will not define your life,” U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander told Baltimore Police Officer Steven Angelini, as she sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in federal prison.

Prosecutors have agreed to tell a judge whether the government used a controversial foreign surveillance method in their case against Brandon Russell, 28, of Orlando, Florida, who is accused of plotting to attack power substations around Baltimore.

Tiffany Knupp faces nine charges for embezzling $12,625 from the Gavin Knupp Foundation and a local restaurant that raised money for the foundation.

President Joe Biden pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, which will clear the way for them to regain lost benefits. The pardon goes even further to protect LGBTQIA+ service members than the controversial policy “don’t ask, don’t tell” that was repealed in 2010.

The Maryland Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that Baltimore County Police Cpl. Royce Ruby could not be held liable for firing a shot that wounded 5-year-old Kodi Gaines after a long standoff with police in the boy’s home in 2016. Police fatally shot his mother, who had brandished a gun.

Tayzha Alona Warren, 12, has been found after being missing for a week, Baltimore County Police said Thursday.

The disciplinary actions were announced in a terse press release by department officials that did not name any of the officers or shed light on the circumstances of the violations.

The Tanguay brothers, survivors of Greater Grace Church, recount their stories of abuse and how the church handled it.

Patrick Toomey, the deputy director of the ACLU’s National Security Project and whose work on Section 702 was cited in the defense’s earlier filing, entered his appearance on the case Tuesday along with two other attorneys from the civil liberties group.

The Maryland Supreme Court on June 18 refused to hear an appeal in the case.

An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for 22-year-old Amin Timovich Stigal, who is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and damage.

Kanisha Spence, 45, of Poppleton, who was employed as a security guard with Maximum Protective Services, was previously found guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court of second-degree murder and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and sentenced to serve 60 years in prison in the deadly shooting of Marquise Powell on Oct. 30, 2022.

William Rich, 43, of Windsor Mill, stood trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government property.

The scanner chatter contradicts statements made by the state’s public safety chief, Carolyn Scruggs, that there were no clear warning signs that Sewell posed a risk to Martinez.

A lawsuit filed last week is the latest addition to a pile of civil claims tied to ABC Capital and Castle Title that keeps growing as the Maryland Insurance Administration investigates discrepancies raised by a civil lawyer and reported by The Baltimore Banner.