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Leopold waives right to jury trial
Listen to this articleANNAPOLIS — Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold on Thursday waived his right to a jury trial on misconduct-in-office charges and will place his fate in the hands of Visiting Judge Dennis M. Sweeney.
Opening statements in the bench trial are scheduled to begin Friday morning at Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.
Leopold made his waiver about 90 minutes into the second day of jury selection. The 58 potential jurors who remained from an initial pool of 291 were excused at about 10:15 a.m.
Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt alleges that Leopold, 69, used his security detail to create dossiers on perceived political opponents. Leopold, a Republican, is also accused of having used the detail — county police officers — to distribute and check on campaign signs during the 2010 election season.
In addition, he allegedly had officers drive him to parking lots and wait while he entered another vehicle to engage in sexual activity.
Leopold, who denies the allegations, is being represented by attorneys Bruce L. Marcus and Robert C. Bonsib of MarcusBonsib LLC in Greenbelt.
Davitt declined to comment on Leopold’s decision to have the case decided by a judge rather than a jury.
Marcus and Bonsib did not return telephone messages seeking comment.
University of Baltimore School of Law professor Byron L. Warnken said Leopold’s decision to opt for a judge might have been based on the immense media coverage of the allegations facing him and Sweeney’s reputation for fairness and not being swayed by such coverage.
“It’s probably a pretty decent strategy call,” said Warnken, who teaches criminal procedure and is not involved in the Leopold case.
“There’s been so much pretrial publicity, it would be almost impossible to find an Anne Arundel County juror” unfamiliar with the case, he added. “Dennis Sweeney is not going to play to the audience.”
Sweeney, a retired Howard County Circuit Court judge, is presiding by special assignment. He also presided over the trials of then-Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon in 2009 and Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen Holton in 2010.
