Thursday, January 24, 2013
The prosecution rested its case against Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold by submitting documents how much overtime pay his protective detail earned.
Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold's defense strategy in his misconduct trial has started to emerge as the prosecution concluded its case. Defense attorney Bruce Marcus spent the past four days hammering home the arguments that no guidelines exist for officers assigned to the county executive's protection unit and that Leopold's two back surgeries in 2010 severely limited his "self-reliant" nature causing him to lean on an inner circleof associates. Leopold faces a five-count indictment, which includes four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. Leopold waived his right to a jury trial, opting instead to let Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeny decide his fate. During the final day …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Day three of the misconduct trial of County Executive John Leopold centered around his re-election campaign and its operations.
The third day of testimony in the misconduct trial against Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold centered around his 2010 election campaign. Leopold faces a five-count indictment, which includes four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. His bench trial in front of Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeny started in Annapolis on Friday. Leopold's Campaign Signs Cpl. Mark Walker, a 24-year veteran with the Anne Arundel County Police, testified that he placed, distributed and removed campaign signs from around the county during Leopold's 2010 re-election bid. Walker was assigned to Leopold's executive protection unit—a group of officers tasked with protecting the county executive. "Leopold …
Friday, January 18, 2013
The misconduct trial of Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold started with emotional testimony from his former secretary.
In an emotional start to testimony in the official misconduct trial of Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold, his former scheduling secretary cried as she described getting on her "hands and knees" to empty Leopold's urine from his catheter bag. Patricia Meglin testified that after Leopold's back surgery in 2010, he asked her to help him change the bag—which was strapped to his ankle—because he couldn't bend over to do so himself. "I was quiet at first because after he said that he looked at me and said 'You don’t have a problem with that, do you, Patty?'" Meglin said. "It was my experience that you don’t tell him no because then he would consider you un-loyal and then you lost your job ... I just didn’t say no because I was scared of…
Thursday, December 13, 2012
A Cape St. Claire resident was among Leopold's alleged political enemies.
Maryland's American Civil Liberties Union has sued Anne Arundel County, its police department and indicted County Executive John Leopold for refusing to turn over files allegedly compiled by county police on Leopold's "enemies." "The facts are clear that Anne Arundel County Executive Leopold ordered his executive detail and other county employees to try to dig up dirt on those he perceived as political rivals, as well as women who complained that he harassed or discriminated against them," said Deborah Jeon, legal director for Maryland's ACLU in a statement. "The time has come for Mr. Leopold and the County to come clean about how, why, and against whom these illegal activities were carried out." Joanna Conti, a Cape St. Claire resident …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Patch wants to know whether you think taxpayers should pay more than $20,000 for County Executive John Leopold's defense against his discrimination lawsuit.
- OPINION
-
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Attorneys are busy working on a defense strategy for Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold—and taxpayers are the ones paying the legal bills, according to a report from WBFF FOX45. Patch previously reported that Leopold and the county are currently facing potentially costly litigation involving former employees accusing the county executive of official misconduct and gender discrimination. According to WBFF FOX45, Leopold's private attorneys for the federal discrimination lawsuit cost up to $450 an hour and the bill is already more than $20,000 for two weeks of work. The Anne Arundel County Council has discussed Leopold's situation. Patch reported that Councilman Jamie Benoit (D-4th District) said Leopold's court case has become a …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
As first responders and community members gathered for a moment of silence on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Anne Arundel's county executive focused on what he said he sees as the next great threat.
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold focused his remarks at a 9/11 memorial on Tuesday on the importance of cybersecurity. "Cyberterrorism will shut down our electrical grids, shut down our air-traffic-control system, shut down our financial networks," Leopold said. "We spend $4 billion on cyberdefense in this country, which is less than what we spend on agricultural subsidies. We need to do more." He called Anne Arundel County the epicenter of national security effort to combat cyberterrorism because of U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade. In 2011, Patch reported on an increase in congestion around Fort Meade as thousands of new workers commuted to the area on a daily basis. And in 2012, discrepancies between how the White House …
Thursday, August 2, 2012
A judge ruled Thursday that the case against John R. Leopold, originally scheduled for next month, will not be heard until next year.
UPDATE (1:45 p.m.)—Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold will have to wait at least two months longer for his trial, after a court filing was approved Thursday. Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner approved postponing Leopold's trial between two months, and possibly up to 2013, so that his defense has more time to prepare, according to The Baltimore Sun. Leopold was indicted by a grand jury in March for four counts of misconduct and one count of financial malfeasance. The Baltimore Sun reported that in court on Thursday, Leopold's attorney Bruce Marcus argued that the defense was looking into the conduct of other officials in Maryland, particularly how they handle security. Leopold's private security team, …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Anne Arundel chapter president says County Council's inaction on the county executive's indictments is "unacceptable."
Thursday, March 15, 2012
County Executive John R. Leopold reportedly had information on Joanna Conti and her husband.
Joanna Conti, a Cape St. Claire resident and former county executive candidate, was one of the many political enemies County Executive John R. Leopold kept private files on, The Baltimore Sun reports. The Baltimore Sun reported that Leopold used county staff and a statewide police criminal records database to gather information on his political enemies, according to information released by the Anne Arundel County Police Department in a public records request. The file on Conti included public information on a townhouse development she and her husband had invested in, and information on her husband's business. Conti told The Baltimore Sun that Leopold should have hired his own campaign workers to track down information on political …
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
"No one is indispensable," according to the national president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
The national president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers held a press conference in Annapolis Wednesday afternoon to publicly call for the resignation of Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold and Police Chief James Teare Sr. The union that represents the sergeants and lieutenants of the county police department had earlier called for their resignations, but re-issued the call after the state prosecutor announced that Leopold had been indicted on various counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraud. The push for the resignations comes just weeks after the union criticized Leopold and Teare for mounting problems in the department that put it on "the verge of crisis." On Wednesday, the American Civil …
tom
5:31 pm on Thursday, December 13, 2012
While there might be some justification in this case, I hate when ACLU gets involved in things. They seem to be very nit-picky and obstructionist. more ›