NCJ Number
141126
Date Published
1993
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This report presents data and information on cases processed in fiscal year 1992 (including January-June 1991) by the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor, which is charged with the investigation and prosecution of corruption in government.
Abstract
The report profiles 23 completed investigations and judicial dispositions. Other sections of the report pertain to election law violations, appellate court's ruling, Maryland tax court, administration, workload statistics, sources of complaints investigated, and organization. The severe economic recession caused radical changes in the State Prosecutor's Office during the period covered by the report. Cost-containment measures imposed on most State agencies caused the Office of the State Prosecutor to reduce its staff, cut its space requirements, and establish a more restrictive approach to the types of cases it will investigate. Prior to the budget cuts, the Office investigated complaints against public officials and officers at all levels of State and local government, as provided in the State Prosecutor's statute. In responding to budget cutbacks, the Attorney General's Criminal Investigations Division and the State Prosecutor's Office agreed that the State Prosecutor will focus investigations on elected officials and those cases in which the Attorney General may have a conflict of interest. Five major cases were litigated during the reporting period. Two members of the General Assembly were indicted for misconduct in office, one pleaded guilty, and the other was acquitted in a jury trial. A high official of the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission and his codefendants successfully defended theft charges in two jury trials, one of which ended in the jury not being able to reach a verdict. The official is awaiting trial on the remaining bribery charges, along with the contractor who is alleged to have paid the bribe. The Office also completed 14 full investigations in which reports were rendered to the complainants. Of these, seven were made public.