Motions

scottb@herald-mail.com A judge on Friday rejected motions from the Hagerstown and Washington County governments on a lawsuit over the city's annexation policy, clearing the way for a trial to begin Monday in the county circuit court. It is the first time in at least 10 years the two governments have gone to trial against each other, city and county officials said Friday. There have been other legal disputes between the governmental bodies but they typically have been settled before going to trial.

gregs@herald-mail.com A Washington County Circuit judge denied requests Monday to throw out an asbestos- and environmental-liability insurance suit against Hagerstown-based Allegheny Energy Inc. and four of its subsidiaries. The case related to the Monday hearing and a second case filed in West Virginia are connected to an ongoing disagreement between Allegheny Energy and Lloyd's of London over whether Lloyd's - a global insurance conglomerate - should reimburse Allegheny for thousands of asbestos-related claims and 28 possible environmental cleanup claims.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Former state delegate Larry Faircloth has asked that he and all other county taxpayers be allowed to intervene in the lawsuit filed more than a week ago against the Berkeley County Commission, saying that taxpayer money needs to be safeguarded. The suit was filed on Dec. 30 by Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely, Sheriff Randy Smith, Circuit Clerk Virginia Sine and former Assessor Evelyn Fink. It alleges that those four offices have received inadequate budgets from the County Commission and that some employees' salaries have been too low. It also alleges that the commissioners have not allowed enough people to be hired to adequately serve county residents.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Defending his attempt to seize the house of a woman whose son was fatally shot by police, Assistant Prosecutor Joshua Henline said Thursday that he is simply following the law. On Wednesday, Henline filed two motions to seize the house at 636 Winchester Ave., Martinsburg, that Frances Yurish used as surety to ensure her son, Michael Yurish, 51, was released from jail on $50,000 bail....

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Douglas Pryor, who faces the death penalty if convicted of the December 2007 death of a Smithsburg police officer, appeared in Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court for a pre-trial hearing. Pryor, 30, faces first-degree murder in the shooting death of Officer Christopher Nicholson and in the stabbing death of the mother of his children, Alison Munson. Motion and suppression hearings are scheduled through Tuesday. Pryor's trial begins in May. Because he faces the death penalty, Pryor had an automatic right to ask that the trial be moved to another county.

A man accused of killing his 70-year-old mother appeared in the Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas on Monday, where a flurry of federal and local court motions in the case were reviewed. Marcus Wallace, 40, is charged with first-degree and second-degree murder as well as burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, criminal attempt of criminal homicide and aggravated assault. Although represented by public defenders, he has filed a host of motions on his own behalf.

A hearing to suppress statements made to police by a man charged with the murder of Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation Officer David Grove concluded this week, but a ruling on defense motions is several weeks away, District Attorney Shawn Wagner said. Christopher Lynn Johnson, 28, of Fairfield, Pa., is charged with first-degree murder and faces a possible death penalty if convicted of the Nov. 11, 2010, shooting death of Grove, 31, of Fairfield. Assistant Public Defender Kristin Rice has filed a motion to suppress Johnson's statements to police following his arrest on Nov. 12, as well as a motion to have the trial moved to another county, or have a jury brought in from another jurisdiction to hear the case.

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.

A local bail bondsman indicted by a grand jury in June on weapons and drug offenses received probation before judgment Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court on a charge of transporting a firearm without a permit. Gregory Lehman Toms, 54, of 19932 Lemuel Lane in Boonsboro, was placed on 18 months probation by Judge Donald E. Beachley, who ordered that the first four months be supervised, according to court records. Toms also was ordered to pay a $200 fine and $200 in court costs, according to court records.

The issue: Inmate Brandon Morris was indicted in the Jan. 26 shooting of Roxbury Correctional Institution Officer Jeffery Alan Wroten. Wroten died Jan. 27, a day after he was shot in the face in a Washington County Hospital room where he was guarding Morris. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if Morris is convicted of any of three first-degree murder counts against him. Morris has pleaded not guilty to the charges. What's new: Washington County Circuit Judge Frederick C. Wright III ruled statements Morris made the morning of the shooting to an investigator, excluding those made after he requested an attorney, could be used in his trial.

Name of business: Dixie Kitchen Restaurant and Catering Owner: Wanda L. Swan    Address: 1037 Maryland Ave., Hagerstown Opening date: Oct 6, 2012 Products and services: Southern-style foods, homemade soups and desserts, biscuits and gravy, specialty sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and cheesesteak sandwiches Target market: Families, teens How did you get into your business, and what motivated you to...

A Washington County Circuit Court judge on Friday denied former Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II's motion to vacate a confessed judgment on a loan he co-signed in 2008. Bruchey said he co-signed a $60,000 loan from Biltrite Homes Corp. with Michael Griffith, who later declared bankruptcy. Judge Daniel P. Dwyer denied the motion during a hearing Friday. “No good deed goes unpunished,” the judge said, echoing a comment made earlier in the hearing by Edward Kuczynski, the attorney for Vincent Groh, president of Biltrite Homes.

After he was court ordered to repay an $80,000 debt in mid-August, Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II filed a motion to vacate the confessed judgment against him and has been granted a hearing in December for his lawsuit with a local businessman, property owner and landlord, according to Washington County Circuit Court documents. Bruchey's motion, signed and filed Sept. 20 on his own behalf, states that the affidavit for the confessed judgment that was signed by plaintiff Vincent R. Groh, president of Biltrite Homes Corp., is “neither dated nor acknowledged.” Bruchey claims the confessed judgment affidavit gives no explanation of the history of payments or tally of late fees on the loan to determine if the amount owed is correct, and with incomplete figures, it makes the claim of 15 percent in attorney's fees indeterminate as well, court documents show.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday denied a defense motion to suppress statements Eric Shaquille Baymon made to police following an April incident in which a shot was fired and Baymon sustained a concussion in a struggle for the gun. Baymon, 19, of 42 E. Washington St., Apt. 3, is charged with first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm in the April 11 incident on East Lee Street. Baymon is a defendant and an alleged victim in the shooting, in which another man, Giancarlos Badia, is charged.

There must be a reason why coaches demand perfection at practice. If anything, that reasoning was on display in the Maryland District 1 Senior League opener. Maugansville did everything it drilled and Conococheague was drilled by everything it didn't. Maugansville used strong pitching by Tyler Shindle, a pair of home runs by Brandon Haupt and alert base running to score a 9-5 victory over host Conococheague on Tuesday in the opener of the double-elimination tournament. Conococheague allowed six unearned runs.

Members of the Western Maryland Modern Woodmen of America Chapter helped raise money for Hancock In Motion by supporting its 2012 Hancock Community Day activities. The June 9 event raised $1,598.12 This includes $799.21 matched by Modern Woodmen's home office through the organization's matching fund program. The money will be used for purchasing equipment for youth activities in Hancock. The matching fund program offers Modern Woodmen members nationwide the chance to show support for a community cause, organization or individual in need by holding fundraisers.

A motion to hold separate trials for two men accused in the April 2011 fatal stabbing of one man and the wounding of another was denied Monday by a circuit court judge. Thomas A. Grantham Jr., 35, and James G. Cross Jr., 33, were indicted in October on single counts of murder, attempted murder, malicious assault and conspiracy in the fatal stabbing of Andre Jackson, 21, and the wounding of Jacques Taylor. Police have said the victims were attacked April 23 while parked in a vehicle in the 1900 block of Rock Cliff Drive near Polo Green Drive just outside Martinsburg.

During hours of questioning by Hagerstown police detectives in June, Darrell Hicks repeatedly denied stabbing his roommate and leaving his body in their apartment for several days. Eventually, Hicks told investigators he stabbed Darin Bernard Pressman. But it will be up to Washington County Circuit Court Judge Daniel P. Dwyer to determine whether the statement was made voluntarily. On Wednesday, a hearing on a defense motion to exclude Hicks' police interview from a trial began before 9 a.m. and extended past the 4:30 p.m. closing of the courthouse.

Concerned about the finances of the embattled Washington County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, a representative of the Maugansville Goodwill Volunteer Fire Co. made a motion to freeze the organization's money during an association meeting Thursday night. Charlie Shindle proposed freezing the group's money, except for funding that has been budgeted for operating expenses thus far, until the end of the year when new officers are selected to run the association. Before he made his motion, Shindle said there has been much discussion about the association's finances over the years, and there has been "a lot of things that have appeared in the paper," referring to a series of stories that appeared recently in The Herald-Mail.

A hearing to suppress statements made to police by a man charged with the murder of Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation Officer David Grove concluded this week, but a ruling on defense motions is several weeks away, District Attorney Shawn Wagner said. Christopher Lynn Johnson, 28, of Fairfield, Pa., is charged with first-degree murder and faces a possible death penalty if convicted of the Nov. 11, 2010, shooting death of Grove, 31, of Fairfield. Assistant Public Defender Kristin Rice has filed a motion to suppress Johnson's statements to police following his arrest on Nov. 12, as well as a motion to have the trial moved to another county, or have a jury brought in from another jurisdiction to hear the case.