-Caveat Lector- > >The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #73 -- January 8, 1998 > Murder Charges Against Four in Baltimore Dismissed for >Lack of Court Space > >The backlog that exists in Baltimore's Circuit Courts, due >mainly to thousands of drug cases, resulted in the dismissal >of murder charges against four individuals this week (1/6) >who had waited more than 13 months for a trial. Felony >trials are supposed to begin no later than six months >following arraignment, but the city has neither enough >judges, courtrooms, nor prosecutors nor public defenders to >handle the caseload. > >Michael N. Gambrill, District Public Defender for Baltimore >told The Week Online that more than 80% of the cases in the >district court are drug cases. > >"The police might arrest one junkie for passing a small >amount of something to another junkie. Now, technically, >they're distributing, but the reality is that it's just >people who are addicted who are feeding their habits," >Gambrill said. But they're being brought into the system as >felonies, which is overloading the system." > >The by-product, says Gambrill, is a lack of justice. "It's >not uncommon for people to sit in jail for six to eight >months, and sometimes longer before trial. These people >haven't been found guilty of anything. They lose their >homes, they lose their jobs, they lose contact with their >families and loved ones based simply on the fact that they >have been charged. That is not justice." > >In the case of the dropped murder charges, the four >defendants had been waiting more than three years for a >trial. In that case, the normal delays were compounded by >the difficulties of finding dates on which the four separate >defense attorneys (none of those defendants were represented >by the public defender), the prosecutor, the judge and a >courtroom were all available. > > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
