Lawyer

Howard lawyers dispute charges By BOB PARTLOW / Staff Writer MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - With the trial of Sara Howard on charges she murdered her three young children three weeks away, defense attorneys have filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court to have the charges dismissed. The attorneys argue in their legal document filed with the court that the prosecutor has lost her ability to prove murder against Howard because she can't prove gasoline was used to set the fire at 211 E. Liberty St. on Nov. 13, 1999.

Milton D. Lawyer, 94, of West Water Street, Smithsburg, Md., passed away Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012, at Homewood at Williamsport (Md.) Nursing Home. Born June 19, 1918, in Detour, Md., he was the son of the late Milton Oliver and Mary Elma (Fike) Lawyer of Thurmont, Md. He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Gayle Elizabeth (Spessard) Lawyer, Jan. 21, 1992. He was a graduate of Thurmont High School, Class of 1935. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A well-known former Martinsburg defense attorney was fined $1,100 Thursday and ordered to pay court costs by a circuit judge who found him guilty of 11 misdemeanor counts of practicing law without a license in May. Steven M. Askin, 62, could have been fined up to $1,000 per count at his sentencing hearing, but 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh concluded that Askin's legal advice, while in violation of the law in...

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A judge has appointed a new attorney for Michael Newell, who is serving a life sentence for the death of his niece. On Feb. 22, Berkeley County Circuit Judge David Sanders appointed attorney Randy Rhodes to represent Newell, who filed a request for counsel three weeks earlier. Newell's motion indicates that he wants legal assistance to challenge his October 1998 felony murder conviction. "Several facts relevant to this case including unconstitutional grounds may exist," his motion said.

HAGERSTOWN - A lawyer who took signs promoting a political rival vowed he would be back in court after the judge sided with the prosecution in a case involving the campaigns of two would-be Washington County State's Attorneys. Visiting Judge Daniel W. Moylan told Gregory J. Hannigan he did not believe key testimony of a defense witness during Hannigan's trial on a theft charge Monday, and he found him guilty of stealing two two-sided political signs one day before September's primary election.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The attorney for one of three people charged with killing a 20-year-old Hedgesville, W.Va., woman last year has asked for the trial to be moved. Barry Beck, representing Casey Michelle Holt, 25, of 84-T Apple Way, Inwood, W.Va., was in federal court in Martinsburg Monday for a motions hearing. Beck filed motions for both a change of venue and to suppress part of the prosecution's case, according to Fawn Thomas, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.

Lawyer hopes to form environmental coalition WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The founder of an environmental advocacy group said Wednesday he's trying to form a coalition of similar interest groups operating in Franklin County. Tom Linzey, a Shippensburg, Pa., attorney and creator three years ago of the nonprofit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said he met last month with about 15 representatives from groups he's hoping to recruit for his coalition. Linzey, 28, lives in Southhampton Township.

Matt Ward was poring over federal budget documents for his job as an environmental lawyer when a proposal to spend $24.9 million to build a firearms training center near Harpers Ferry, W.Va., caught his eye. cont. from front page Ward, who chairs the nonprofit land trust organization Harpers Ferry Conservancy, was immediately concerned. The 327 acres in question represent about one-third of the land the conservancy has been working to add to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

laurae@herald-mail.com Garden State Tanning is challenging the unemployment claims of more than 150 employees who were laid off before, during and after last month's strike, according to a lawyer representing the workers. The automotive leather manufacturer is arguing that the employees are not eligible to receive unemployment checks because the layoffs were strike-related, said William Proctor, who has been hired by the union to represent the employees. Proctor said employees are entitled to draw unemployment for the weeks they were laid off before and after the strike, although not during the nine days of the strike.

Special prosecutor sought by lawyer MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - An attorney whose grand jury testimony led to the indictment of three Berkeley County sheriff's deputies charged with beating a suspect has called for a special prosecutor to investigate what she believes to be a second, related incident of excessive police force. "We need a special prosecutor," Martinsburg attorney Laura Rose said this week. She called on Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely to appoint an outside investigator.