Md. Legal Briefs: September 22, 2001

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 22, 2001 by Staff

Moms on tape

A new program will give mothers incarcerated in the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women at Jessup a chance to record bedtime stories, lullabies or short personal messages for their children. Montgomery County District Judge Marielsa Bernard is sponsoring the Storybook Project, which will run through December. Bernard is seeking volunteers to go to the prison to help with the program; call 301-279-1551.

Spying suit settled

U.S. District Judge Frederic N. Smalkin approved the joint stipulation of dismissal of a lawsuit in which Chesapeake System Solutions Inc., an Owings Mills accounting software firm, accused competitor Trintech Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., of misappropriating its trade secrets last June during a closed users' conference in Coronado, Calif.

Round leg, square hole

Risheena Chambers filed a $250,000 negligence suit against the city of Baltimore in the city's circuit court this week. The Columbia resident claims she injured her leg and back in May 2000 when she stepped into a 12-inch square conduit hole outside Courthouse East, and that a deputy told her the hole had been there for over a year.

Missed utility?

Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. filed a negligence action in Baltimore City Circuit Court against Spiniello Construction Co. Inc., of Morristown, N.J., accusing the company of causing $14,950.48 in damages to power lines when it excavated at Charles Street near East Centre Street in April 1999 without first calling Miss Utility.

Bully pulpit

The parents of a girl with attention deficit disorder filed a $400,000 suit this week in Baltimore County Circuit Court against the county's board of education and superintendent of public schools, plus a principal and an assistant principal at Stemmers Run Middle School. Patricia and Francis Stone claim the defendants failed to protect their daughter Amy from "physical attacks" and "verbal abuse" by other students.

Planning stages

Design work will begin soon on an $11 million annex to the Charles County Courthouse, according to the Court Information Office, which notes the county grew 19.2 percent in the last decade. Expect three to four years for completion.