Prosecutor

Washington County Assistant State's Attorney Gina Cirincion received a 2005 Governor's Victim Assistance Award last week during a ceremony in Annapolis. Cirincion, who has been a prosecutor in Washington County since 1994, was nominated for the award by the county State's Attorney's Office's Victim Witness Unit, said Jill Ritter, the unit's director. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. presented 27 people and five organizations "for their unselfish devotion to crime victims in Maryland" during a luncheon, sponsored by the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the Maryland State Board of Victim Services, according to the Maryland Web site.

ANNAPOLIS - A Washington County prosecutor advocated in Annapolis on Wednesday for a new charge and penalties for people who drive dangerously while trying to flee. Assistant State's Attorney John Dunlap spoke in favor of a bill to include certain dangerous driving as "conduct that creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another. " Dangerous driving would be reckless endangerment if it's "to avoid or attempt to avoid being detained by a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of an official duty while the officer is on foot" or "when being pursued on foot by an individual acting in defense of a person or property.

It happened years ago, but attorney Jerry Joyce still remembers the day he was at a motorcycle swap meet, where riders traded parts and talked about their bikes and how to make them run right. It was a lot of fun, until three motorcycle gang members came in and saw someone they didn't like. Joyce said they proceeded to beat him in the head with sticks, each blow making a horrible cracking noise. The victim somehow managed to get up and run from his attackers, one of whom pulled out a gun and shot him. Fortunately, the man survived, but Joyce said that the experience showed him that there are truly evil people in the world.

Of the nine Roxbury Correctional Institution officers charged with second-degree assault in connection with a March 2008 assault on an inmate, the fate of only one remains unknown. A trial for Scott Boozel, 28, ended June 16 with a hung jury, and a judge declared a mistrial. Prosecutors have not decided whether to retry Boozel, according to Raquel Guillory, director of communications for the Office of the Attorney General. Prosecutors in June dropped a second-degree assault charge against Reginald Martin, 38. Two of the officers, Timothy Mellott, 23, and Lucas Kelly, 29, who now lives in Wyoming, agreed to testify against their former colleagues as part of a plea agreement.

Declaring that he wants to continue changing the "cultural mindset" of criminals, Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney Matthew Fogal announced Thursday he is seeking election in 2011. Fogal, 38, took office Oct. 23, 2009, following the sudden death of his predecessor and former boss, John "Jack" Nelson, at age 58. On Thursday, Fogal called the time of Nelson's death a "dark, tough time" for the Franklin County District Attorney's Office and law enforcement community. Fogal, a Republican, said victims are "first and foremost" in his mind every day. He described stacks of files from the 3,000 cases handled each year by the office.

HAGERSTOWN If elected Washington County State's Attorney, Jerry Joyce said he would use 10 percent of his annual salary to build and maintain a Web site that would log pictures and street names of convicted drug dealers. Joyce, 57, of 109 N. Potomac St. in Hagerstown, filed July 3 for the post, making him the only Democratic contender in the four-man race. Republicans Gordon A. Lynn and Gregory C. Bannon will face incumbent State's Attorney Charles P. Strong Jr. in the Sept.

Washington County State's Attorney Charles P. Strong Jr., a Republican, has filed to retain the position to which he was appointed in 2004. Strong, 59, of 1423 The Terrace in Hagerstown, was appointed county state's attorney by the county's Circuit Court judges in July 2004 after former State's Attorney M. Kenneth Long Jr. was appointed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich to a District judgeship. Strong said he has felt "privileged" to serve as state's attorney and hopes to continue serving the county's citizens.

You didn't take my advice, so I'm going to take your house. That may seem harsh, but when we boil down the legal language, that sounds like what Joshua Henline, an assistant prosecutor in Berkeley County, W.Va., is saying to Frances Yurish. Yurish, a Martinsburg resident, put up her house as surety so her son Michael could be released from jail following a November 2004 attack on his estranged wife. On Monday, Yurish broke into his wife's house, held a knife to her throat and was fatally shot by West Virginia State Police troopers.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Angela Rosenberry Krom is expected to announce her candidacy at noon Monday for Judge of the 39th District of the Court of Common Pleas at the American Legion in McConnellsburg, Pa., and at 5 p.m. at the Franklin Fire Hall in Chambersburg. The campaign also will include a "kickoff" event Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Waynesboro Ambulance Squad Building. Krom is a prosecutor with the Franklin County District Attorney's Office, where she has been employed full time since 1996.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg man who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 22 shooting death of a friend was sentenced to 12 months in jail Friday, the maximum allowed by law, said Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely. Michael Andrew Neely, 43, who is confined to a wheelchair, will serve his time in either the Northern Regional Jail or Central Regional Jail because the Eastern Regional Jail near Martinsburg is not equipped to handle handicapped inmates, Games-Neely said.