Heard and By the Numbers

Posted: 6:50 pm Fri, November 6, 2009
By Daily Record Staff

Heard

“A lot of truth will come out, and that’s all I have to say about that.”
Mayor Sheila Dixon, during a news conference discussing her expectations for her upcoming trial, in which she is charged with stealing gift cards donated for needy families. Jury selection is set to start today.

“I don’t think the American people would tolerate a constitutional right that only applies to the District of Columbia.”
Attorney James Hopewell, on why the 2008 Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller, which upheld the right to bear arms in one’s home, should apply to Maryland. The Court of Special Appeals held that the Second Amendment does not apply to a Maryland gun-control law.

“There’s an innumerable number of could haves, would haves, maybe might haves….”
Attorney Brian J. Murphy, on why Policarpio Espinoza Perez and Adan Canela, who were convicted of murdering three children in Baltimore, should get a new trial. The Court of Special Appeals heard arguments Tuesday on how the judge’s failure to disclose six jury notes could have changed the trial’s outcome.

By the Numbers
70
The mandatory judicial retirement age in Maryland. Judge Charles G. Bernstein, who is 69, is challenging the requirement in federal court, claiming it violates the constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

12
The number of boxes of client files St. Mary’s County state’s attorney Richard D. Fritz is accused of helping to take in a lawsuit filed by his opponent in the state’s attorney race. John A. Mattingly Jr. alleges Fritz facilitated the seizure of the files from his mother’s basement in retaliation for Mattingly’s candidacy.

$35,500
Amount Montgomery County Register of Wills Joseph Griffin allegedly spent on a personal fitness program for his office’s 40 employees, according to a legislative audit. Griffin said that some of the audit’s figures were off and that the costs were spread over three years.