Top trials to watch in 2020
One of the most anticipated days in court in 2020 will come when Baltimore’s former mayor is sentenced for conspiracy crimes and tax evasion. Then the following months will bring many high-profile trials to the area. One man is to stand trial for the Capital Gazette newspaper murders, another for allegedly murdering his wife and blaming a panhandler. And there’s a drug conspiracy case against one of Baltimore’s foremost defense attorneys. As 2020 begins, here are some of the biggest trials of the year.
Two to stand trial for attempted murder of offduty Sgt. Carrington: Baltimore Police Sgt. Isaac Carrington stood outside his home last summer chatting with a neighbor when two masked gunmen pulled up and announced a robbery. One of them chased Carrington and shot him multiple times. The 22-year veteran of the force was hospitalized in critical condition. A month later, police arrested two men and charged them with attempted murder: Karon Foster, 25, and Rashaud Nesmith, 18. They are scheduled for trial Jan. 27. Carrington, meanwhile, has been released from the hospital.
Mayor Pugh faces federal prison in “Healthy Holly” scandal: The “Healthy Holly” book scandal culminated in November with disgraced former mayor Catherine Pugh pleading guilty to conspiracy crimes and tax evasion. A federal investigation had found Pugh’s self-publishing enterprise amounted to little more than a criminal racket, with Pugh persuading some of wealthiest, most powerful organizations in Baltimore to pay her hundreds of thousands of dollars for her clumsily written children’s books. Federal sentencing guidelines recommend she serve five years. Pugh is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27.
Ramos admits to murdering journalists in CapitalGazette newspaper attack, but claims insanity: Harboring a resentment over an old newspaper column, Jarrod Ramos blasted his way into the CapitalGazette newsroom in 2018 and killed five people. He admitted as much in October, pleading guilty to murdering Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters and John McNamara. Still, the 39-year-old Laurel man admitted guilt under Maryland’s version of the insanity plea. A trial to determine whether he is legally responsible is set to begin March 4 in Annapolis.
Lawrence Banks accused in grown daughter’s gruesome death: Police made the gruesome discovery last spring in a dumpster in
Northwest Baltimore. Among the garbage was a woman’s dismembered body. Over the next weeks, detectives identified her as a 43-year-old mother of six and came to believe her father, Lawrence Banks, had murdered her. He threw the same daughter through a glass door when she was a baby around Christmas 1975, according to court records. In 1991, he killed his 17-year-old son and gunned down a friend, serving only a decade in prison. Banks is scheduled to stand trial for murder March 16.
Husband to be tried for wife’s murder in so-called “panhandler killing”: The deadly attack on Jacquelyn Smith shocked people around the country when her husband announced, tearfully, that she had been stabbed by a panhandler during an act of charity. Behind the scenes, however, detectives were growing increasingly suspicious of his story. They arrested Keith Smith and his grown daughter, Valeria, three months later, nabbing them 20 miles from the Mexican border. In September, Valeria Smith pleaded guilty to acting as an accessory after the murder. Keith Smith is scheduled to stand trial April 20.
Former Maryland Cabinet secretary indicted on bribery charges: More than two years ago, federal prosecutors indicted a former Cabinet secretary in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration on bribery charges involving millions of dollars’ worth of state contracts. The case has proceeded slowly against Isabel FitzGerald, secretary of information technology in 2013 and 2014, but she’s scheduled to stand trial May 4.
Top defense Baltimore attorney allegedly in cahoots with marijuana kingpin: Baltimore’s legal community was rocked in September when federal prosecutors indicted prominent defense attorney Ken Ravenell on charges of a racketeering, money laundering and drug conspiracy The allegations center on 2009 to 2014, when he worked for the prestigious law firm of William “Billy” Murphy Jr. and defended Jamaican drug kingpin Richard Byrd. Ravenell’s trial is scheduled for April 13.
Sgt. Ethan Newberg indicted on 32 more counts in alleged “pattern of harassment”: Veteran Baltimore police Sgt. Ethan Newberg already faced charges for forcibly arresting a bystander last May when prosecutors announced 32 more criminal charges against him, including false imprisonment, assault and misconduct. A review of his body camera footage, prosecutors said, revealed a “pattern of harassment and intimidation.” Newberg is scheduled for trial April 21.