Judge Finds Leopold Not Guilty on One Misconduct Charge
Circuit Judge Dennis Sweeney said having officers drive Leopold around to remove his opponent's campaign signs did not amount to misconduct in office.
An Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge on Friday found County Executive John Leopold not guilty on one of four counts of misconduct in office. Leopold still faces three counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. Judge Dennis Sweeney said while officers assigned to protect Leopold were present when Leopold allegedly destroyed or removed the campaign signs of his opponent Joanna Conti during the 2010 election, it did not rise to the level of misconduct in office. "Mr. Leopold may have been able to be charged with the crimes of theft or malicious destruction of property," Sweeny said. "It was not being done in part and parcel of his office, but [it was] being done as a private citizen." Sweeney'…
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Carol B
4:50 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Patch's bulletin on Leopold's conviction quotes the presiding judge as saying that "the defendant demonstrates an overbearing arrogance and sense of entitlement that is unworthy of someone in public service"--even though he wasn't convicted of criminal wrongdoing in this trial. I think I said the same thing above. That's the difference between the two, Chris: what's immoral and unethical and … more ›