Maryland
Lawyers: Ex-political aide dead after manhunt
BALTIMORE (AP) — A former Maryland political aide wanted on corruption charges died Monday after he was wounded while being confronted by law enforcement agents, his lawyer said, following a manhunt that was launched when the man failed to appear for trial.
Attorney Joseph Murtha said the FBI confirmed Roy McGrath’s death to him. He added that it was not immediately clear if McGrath’s wound was self-inflicted or came during an exchange of gunfire with agents.
The FBI had said earlier that McGrath, once a top aide to a former Maryland governor, had been hospitalized following an agent-involved shooting, but declined to elaborate.
William Brennan, an attorney for McGrath’s wife, Laura Bruner, also confirmed the death and said she was “absolutely distraught.”
According to an email earlier from FBI Supervisory Special Agent Shayne Buchwald in Maryland, McGrath was wounded during “an agent-involved shooting” around 6:30 p.m. in a commercial area on the southwestern outskirts of Knoxville, Tennessee. Buchwald said McGrath was taken to a hospital.
Further details, including how McGrath was wounded and what led up to it, were not immediately released. The shooting was under investigation.
“The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously,” said Buchwald, who declined to confirm that McGrath had died.
McGrath, 53, served as chief of staff to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. He was declared a wanted fugitive after his disappearance, and the FBI has said he was considered an international flight risk.
In a statement, Hogan said he and his wife, Yumi, “are deeply saddened by this tragic situation. We are praying for Mr. McGrath’s family and loved ones.”
Murtha called the death “a tragic ending to the past three weeks of uncertainty” and said his client always maintained his innocence.
After McGrath failed to appear at Baltimore’s federal courthouse on March 13, Murtha said he believed McGrath, who had moved to Naples, Florida, was planning to fly to Maryland the night before. Instead of beginning jury selection, a judge issued an arrest warrant and dismissed prospective jurors.
McGrath was indicted in 2021 on accusations he fraudulently secured a $233,648 severance payment, equal to one year of salary as the head of Maryland Environmental Service, by falsely telling the agency’s board the governor had approved it. He was also accused of fraud and embezzlement connected to roughly $170,000 in expenses. McGrath pleaded not guilty.
McGrath resigned just 11 weeks into the job as Hogan’s chief of staff in 2020 after the payments became public.
If convicted of the federal charges, he would have faced a maximum sentence of 20 years for each of four counts of wire fraud, plus a maximum of 10 years for each of two counts of embezzling funds from an organization receiving more than $10,000 in federal benefits.
Washington
Supreme Court rejects appeal from man on death row
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a Louisiana death row inmate seeking a new sentencing hearing, over a dissent from the three liberal justices.
The court turned away David Brown, who was convicted of killing a prison guard, Capt. David Knapps, during a 1999 escape attempt from the state prison in Angola. Brown argues he is entitled to a reconsideration of his death sentence because prosecutors failed to provide his lawyers with evidence that might have led a jury to spare his life.
Only after the sentencing did prosecutors give Brown’s legal team a confession from a fellow inmate, Barry Edge, that supported Brown’s contention that he was not involved in Knapps’ killing.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the delay violated Brown’s constitutional rights under a 1963 Supreme Court decision requiring the prosecution to turn over material that would help a defendant’s case.
“At no point in the confession did Edge suggest Brown was involved in the fatal attack; his description of the events leading up to the murder did not mention Brown at all,” Jackson wrote, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Brown had joined a group of prisoners in the escape attempt, but claimed he wasn’t there when Knapps was killed inside a bathroom.
A state judge overturned the death sentence, but the Louisiana Supreme Court reinstated it by a 4-3 vote. That court’s majority said Edge’s statement wasn’t favorable to Brown.
Wisconsin
Voters to decide on stricter cash bail amendment
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state constitutional amendment that would make it harder to get out of jail on bail before trial will be decided Tuesday by Wisconsin voters.
The measure, which appears as two separate ballot questions, would allow judges to consider past convictions for violent crimes when setting bail for someone accused of a violent crime. It would also let judges set conditions to protect public safety when releasing someone before trial. If only one of the questions passes, then only that part of the amendment will go into effect.
The amendment’s Republican sponsors say it will make for safer communities. But criminal justice experts warn that it will result in higher cash bail amounts and disproportionately keep poor defendants behind bars.
Bail is meant to ensure people return to court and isn’t intended to be a punishment, since defendants are presumed innocent until convicted. Criminal justice advocates say that if a judge believes someone is a threat to public safety, they should have the power to hold them without bail instead of setting high bail amounts that could still let out wealthy defendants before trial.
Wisconsin law sets such a high bar for holding someone without bail that the option is almost never used.
Support for stricter bail laws in Wisconsin grew after Darrell Brooks drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in Waukesha in 2021, killing six people and injuring more than 60. Brooks was out on $1,000 bail for another charge. His bail for the parade killings was set at $5 million to prevent his release.
A separate bill passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last month lays out the details of the amendment, including a list of more than 100 offenses that would be considered violent crimes, such as homicide, sexual assault, arson and human trafficking.
But opponents have raised concerns that some of the crimes listed, such as watching a cockfight or leaving a firearm where a child gains access to it, should not make it harder to get out of jail. Research shows that people who stay in jail before trial are more likely to be unemployed or reoffend after their case ends. It’s not uncommon for people to lose their jobs or homes while sitting in jail on a bail they can’t afford.
