The Attorney's Office Tools


650-1593 Michael A. Brown v.


Robert Atkisson


Law Offices of Michael D. Smigiel, Sr. (410) 392-5815 Motor Vehicle Accident


Te Honorable O. Robert Lidums Circuit Court for Cecil County


Te issue is whether the Plaintiff ’s medical records were


properly entered into evidence without any expert testimony from either the treating physicians or an employee of their office to verify said documents were kept in the ordinary course of business. None of the medical records were certified. In addition, it was alleged that there was no attempt by the Plaintiff to comply with Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-104 for the admission of these records. Te trial court permitted the documents as “self authenticating” and, in addition, cited the hearsay exception under MD Rule 5-803, subsection 24. Te question is whether the documents were properly admitted under either standard.


651-02838 Nicolas A. Piscatelli v. Van Smith


Peter A. Prevas, Esq. (410) 752-2340 Tort/Defamation/First Amendment


Te Honorable Kay E. Allison Circuit Court for Baltimore City


Te plaintiff sued the Baltimore “City Paper” as a result


of two articles dealing with a criminal case. In the articles, it was alleged by the mother of a murder victim that some unknown person had told her that the Plaintiff had hired someone to kill her son. It is now apparently undisputed that the Plaintiff was


not involved with the murders. Te Plaintiff filed a defamation action against the paper.


Te paper responded by arguing that the statements regarding the murder were covered by the fair reporting privilege. On appeal, the Plaintiff argues that the fair reporting privilege provides only a qualified immunity which can be lost if the publisher does not fairly and accurately report.


68 Trial Reporter / Spring 2010


652-01526 Miles L. Waters v.


Maryland Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Administration


John H. Morris, Jr., Esq. (410) 366-5683 Employment Law/Administrative


Te Honorable Michael Wachs Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County


A state employee was accused of misusing a state vehicle


and allegedly terminated as a result. Te issue on appeal is whether a report from a GPS tracking device was sufficient evidence to demonstrate misuse of the vehicle. In essence, the employee notes that the witnesses proffered to testify regarding the alleged GPS evidence of her whereabouts had little or no knowledge of the device, its operation, or the generation of the date they were called to testify about. Instead the functions related to the tracking were done by a third-party vendor and no representative of that vendor was called at trial. In the eyes of the employee, this left a fatal gap in the government’s evidence.


653-02660 Housing Authority of Baltimore City v. Nornita Hyman


Carrie Blackburn Riley, Esq. (410) 825-8088 Government Liability/Tort Claims Act


Te Honorable Alfred Nance Circuit Court for Baltimore City


Te question is whether the Plaintiff complied with


the Local Government Tort Claims Act’s 180-day notice provision in a case involving ongoing water and mold encroachment into her dwelling caused by government negligence. Te negligence in this case appears to be a continuing wrong which occurred over a period of years. Te argument asserted by the government is that only six month’s worth of damages are recoverable because this is all that could have occurred during the notice period. Te Court is asked to decide whether damages might appropriately be awarded beyond the six-month period given the distinction between the notice period as a condition precedent to filing suite and a statute of limitations as a bar to prior claims.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76