Exhibit A Baltimore

Small GPS devices help prosecutors win convictions

Associated Press — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:42:46 +0000

Like millions of motorists, Eric Hanson used a GPS unit in his Chevrolet TrailBlazer to find his way around. He probably didn’t expect that prosecutors would eventually use it too — to help convict him of killing four family members.

Prosecutors in suburban Chicago analyzed data from the Garmin GPS device to pinpoint where Hanson had been on the morning after his parents were fatally shot and his sister and brother-in-law bludgeoned to death in 2005. He was convicted of the killings earlier this year and sentenced to death.

Hanson’s trial was among recent criminal cases around the country in which authorities used GPS navigation devices to help establish a defendant’s whereabouts. Experts say such evidence will almost certainly become more common in court as GPS systems become more affordable and show up in more vehicles.

“There’s no real doubt,” said Alan Brill, a Minnesota-based computer forensics expert who has worked with the FBI and Secret Service. “This follows every other technology that turns out to have information of forensic value. I think what we’re seeing is evolutionary.”

Using technology to track a person’s location is nothing new. For years, police have been able to trace cell phone signals and use other dashboard devices such as automatic toll-collection systems to confirm a driver’s whereabouts.

But the growing popularity of GPS systems — in cars, cell phones and other handheld devices — gives authorities another powerful tool to track suspects.

Among recent cases:

— In September, a man in Butte, Mont., pleaded guilty to rape shortly after a judge ruled that evidence from the GPS unit in his car could be used against him at trial. Prosecutors planned to use it to show that Brian D. Adolf “prowled” through town looking for a victim.

— In New Brighton, Pa., a trucker’s GPS system led police to charge him with setting his own home on fire. GPS records showed his rig was parked about 100 yards from his house at the time of the fire.

— In the case of a missing Chicago-area woman named Stacy Peterson, investigators sought GPS records from the SUV owned by her husband, former police officer Drew Peterson. She still hasn’t been found, and no one has been charged.

Developed for the military, GPS navigation systems started showing up in cars in the 1990s. Prices have dropped sharply in the past few years, and many units are now available for less than $150.

The Consumer Electronics Association estimates 20 percent of American households own a portable GPS system and 9 percent have vehicles equipped with in-dash systems.

A GPS unit receives signals from satellites to determine its position on the ground. That data can be used by mapping software to display the device’s location to within a few yards.

Detectives are often able to extract map searches and desired destinations that have been entered into a GPS unit by the user. Some devices are equipped with a “track back” feature that can show where the unit was at a particular time.

“What we’re dealing with here is a use of the technology that I don’t think the good people at Magellan or Garmin or TomTom really thought about when they were developing it,” said Brill, referring to manufacturers of GPS devices.

Law enforcement sometimes uses secretly planted GPS devices to monitor suspects. The practice, often done without a warrant or court order, has been criticized by privacy advocates who argue that it is unconstitutional.

The GPS feature on a cell phone has already helped solve at least one crime. In 2006, police in Virginia Beach, Va., used the GPS on a homicide victim’s cell phone to find the phone and her purse in a garbage can behind a home. The home was linked to the man who was eventually charged with killing her.

Jon Price, a trainer at Garmin Ltd., the leading maker of commercial GPS units in the U.S., started getting calls five years ago to work with law enforcement in cases involving GPS data from the company’s units was being used as evidence.

Price estimates he’s helped with about 25 criminal cases, some of them involving GPS-equipped boats running drugs out of South America. He’s testified as an expert witness in a half-dozen cases, including the Hanson murder trial.

“Typically the GPS data being used is for the purpose of contradicting (defendants’) alibis,” Price said.

GPS data is usually just one part of the criminal case because attorneys also have to prove the defendant possessed the unit and entered the information into it.

But Renee Hutchins, a University of Maryland law professor and former defense attorney, recently wrote an article suggesting GPS data is protected under the Fourth Amendment. She said police should only be allowed to acquire it by showing probable cause and getting a warrant signed by a judge.

“I think that in the last couple of years, people are starting to be aware that if they have these units in their car, people can keep track of you,” Hutchins said. “I think it’s a growing public awareness. The problem is … that most people feel like, ‘I’m not doing anything wrong, so who cares?’ But I think that’s the wrong way of looking at it.”

Blogger arrested for leaking songs

richard.simon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:42:28 +0000

“Welcome to the courtroom, we set bail set at 10K,” probably was not a variation on “Welcome to the Jungle” Kevin Cogill had ever considered. Yet those were the circumstances he faced Wednesday morning in federal court in Los Angeles.

Cogill’s alleged crime: leaking nine songs off Guns N’ Roses long-anticipated new album on his blog earlier this year.

What makes the story even more interesting is Cogill just about predicted Wednesday’s arrest and legal troubles on his blog, Antiquiet (which, be warned, does contain profanity).

Cogill, 27 and a huge GNR fan, posted the songs on Antiquiet in June. The rush of users caused the entire site to crash and the songs were eventually removed. “Also, we got a call from Guns N’ Roses,” Cogill noted in the same revised post, foreshadowing his future troubles. “Stay tuned.”

Three days ago, Cogill, aka Skwerl, asked his readers if they knew any good lawyers who could represent him in the copyright infringement case. The FBI had been interviewing him and collecting information, he said. “More and more each day, it looks like I may be indicted.”

It appears the site’s remaining bloggers will keep tabs on the legal proceedings. The last post noted that the judge let Cogill go home on a signature bond for the $10,000 and told him not to leave the district before his next court date, a preliminary hearing on Sept. 17.

The leaked songs are from “Chinese Democracy,” an album 10 years in the making that has reportedly already cost $13 million. Still no official word on when Axl Rose and Co. plan to release the album — nor if Cogill will be in jail or a free man the first time he hears it.

DANNY JACOBS, The Daily Record

Man arrested after offering undercover cop two cents for sex

Tom Harrison — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:08:57 +0000

A Florida man has been arrested for soliciting prostitution after he offered an undercover sheriff’s deputy two cents to have sexual intercourse.

Fausino Diaz Hernandez, 46, allegedly approached the deputy outside a Circle K gas station in Bonita Springs with his lowball offer. She took him up on it, then radioed nearby officers to swoop in and make an arrest. According to the sheriff’s office, the deputy received nine other offers for her services that night, most in the $20 to $30 range but one as high as $300.

Sgt. Matt Chitwood noted that Hernandez promised to give the deputy “a lot of other things” in addition to the two pennies, including some cigarette lighters and a bicycle, “but two cents was the monetary value.”

Source: Naples (Fla.) Daily News.

Angelos employees backing Biden

richard.simon — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:23:31 +0000

USA Today has a story about Joe Biden’s ties to lawyers who specialize in asbestos litigation and his votes on measures that would affect this area of the law. (Hat tip: WSJ Law Blog.) Here’s the lede (yes, that’s how we spell it in journalism) of the story:

Sen. Joe Biden worked to defeat a bipartisan bill designed to curb asbestos lawsuits at a time his son’s law firm was filing them in Delaware and a former aide was lobbying against the measure, according to public records and interviews.

The story notes that three of Biden’s largest contributors over his career have been firms specializing in plaintiff-side asbestos work. (The employees or PACs gave, not the firms themselves.)

You can probably see where this is going. The story doesn’t name the firms, but a quick trip to Open Secrets, the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics, shows that one of them — the one that gave the most money, in fact — is the Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos. Employees of Angelos’ firm have given Biden $156,250 since 1989, making the firm Biden’s fourth-largest contributor.

As you can imagine, Angelos’ lawyers were also kind to Biden during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president this year. Employees of the firm gave him $50,750, making them his third-largest contributor.

USA Today notes that Barack Obama has touted his vote for 2005’s Class Action Fairness Act “as evidence he was willing to stand up to trial lawyers.” I wonder if that will be enough to keep Angelos’ lawyers from directing a whole mess of money Obama and Biden’s way this fall. I doubt it, especially since, as the story points out, Obama, like Biden, voted against a series of measures that would have limited asbestos litigation.

CARYN TAMBER, The Daily Record

What is the duty of a guardian?

joe.bacchus — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:03:49 +0000

Q. What is the duty of a guardian?

A. The guardian has a duty to act according to the Court’s instructions, which are usually set during the guardianship proceeding. If the court grants guardianship over the ward’s property, the guardian has a fiduciary duty to manage the ward’s assets properly. The law requires that the guardian of the property file an annual accounting with the Court detailing the financial transactions of the previous year.

The guardian is responsible for making health-care decisions and assuring that the ward is living in a safe environment. The guardian must file an annual report detailing the ward’s status, the care plan and whether the guardianship needs changes.

The Maryland State Bar Association’s Public Awareness Committee has prepared this information. It is intended to inform the public and not serve as legal advice. The material is believed to be correct but it is not warranted. If you need legal advice, you must contact an attorney.

What happens after the petition is filed?

joe.bacchus — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:02:36 +0000

Q. What happens after the petition is filed?

A. The Court will sign an order requiring the ward, his or her attorney, and any other interested person or agency to respond to the guardianship request within 20 days. The ward and any interested person or agency must be notified of the proceedings and his or her rights at them. The court will appoint an attorney to represent the ward and may appoint an independent investigator to look over the facts of the case and report written findings to the court.

The court will also schedule a hearing or jury trial where a judge or jury decides whether guardianship is appropriate and who should be appointed.

Usually, the judge decides the validity of the guardianship petition, but a jury trial is available unless waived.

How is a guardian appointed?

joe.bacchus — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:58:17 +0000

Q. How is a guardian appointed?

A. A petition must be filed with the Circuit Court in the county where the alleged disabled person resides, is hospitalized or is located. The petition should state all reasons for the appointment of a guardian and whether the request is for guardianship of the ward’s person, property or both.

The petition should provide the petitioner’s name, address and telephone number, date of birth and relationship to the ward. It must include the ward’s name, address, gender, age, the name and address of the person with whom the ward resides and an alternate address for service of process if the ward resides with the petitioner. If a guardianship over property is sought, the petition should include a description of the ward’s assets.

Also accompanying the petition must be: for a disabled ward, verified certificates from two physicians, describing the physical or mental disability that makes appointment of a guardian necessary (one statement must be dated within 21 days of filing for guardianship); a list of the ward’s potential heirs if he or she died without a will, existing guardians or government agencies acting as guardians and all other persons exercising some control over the ward, including names, addresses, telephone numbers and the nature of their interest; name and address of the ward’s attorney if he or she has one.

DuBois High gets $3.6M for job programs

Associated Press — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:10:46 +0000

Baltimore’s W.E.B. DuBois High School is one of nine violence-plagued schools in the country to receive millions in federal funding for internships and other programs to improve students’ career prospects.

The Labor Department gave the school $3.6 million this summer. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said the grant will pay for mentoring programs to prepare students for employment. The funding also creates a paid internship program at Baltimore companies.

Read the main story, Baltimore starts another school year preaching respect and alternatives to violence

Teaching success instead of violence

Exhibit A — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:09:08 +0000

Nzinga Oneferua-El, founder of the city’s Street Soldiers program, says about 80 percent of the students she works with know somebody who was murdered—typically a family member or close friend.

She’s no stranger to violence. In 1992, her fiancé, Al Stewart, founder of the WEAA radio station for Morgan State University, was killed by a 16-year-old and a 21-year-old, she said. Her best friend was murdered, also by young people, in 2006, she said.

“The day after the [1992] murder, I had a vision, and that vision showed me working with children,” Oneferua-El said. Since then, she’s helped young people break free of a culture of drugs and violence.

One of her goals is to have Street Soldiers and her Entrepreneurial Training University Community School spread from Heritage and Doris M. Johnson high schools throughout the entire city. The mayor’s office and City Schools CEO Andres Alonso support this, she said.

Oneferua-El has the city thinking big: Counter to its media image, Baltimore can teach cities how to make their schools safer, she said. And Baltimore will host Street Soldiers’ second national Alive & Free Conference Oct. 17-18.

At Heritage High, the Street Soldiers “caused a drop in violent episodes in the ninth grade and an increase in attendance,” Oneferua-El said. “And that’s just working with them one day a week.”

Read the main story, Baltimore starts another school year preaching respect and alternatives to violence

Where lawyers are easy to find

joe.bacchus — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:01:49 +0000

President Bush and many before him have called the United States a nation of laws. Maybe that’s why our capital has 13 times as many lawyers per capita as any state, and 29 times as many as Maryland. The U.S. has more than 1 million attorneys.

Rank	State (and D.C.)	Lawyers per 10,000 residents
1	District of Columbia	276.7
2	New York	20.4
3	Delaware	18.0
4	Massachusetts	14.5
5	Connecticut	14.3
6	Illinois	14.0
7	Colorado	13.0
8	Georgia	12.0
9	Pennsylvania	11.9
10	Florida, New Jersey (tie)	11.7
12	Minnesota	11.2
13	Louisiana	11.1
14	California, Missouri (tie)	10.9
16	Nevada	10.4
17	Hawaii, Texas, Virginia (tie)	9.5
20	Alabama, Maryland	9.4

Source: Avery Index, from U.S. Census and Martindale-Hubbell statistics; American Bar Association