I support George Psoras for state’s attorney of Carroll County. For almost four decades, Psoras has thrived in the private sector. In private practice, reputation, preparation, judgment and results determine who survives. Psoras has survived and succeeded. State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker is trying to scare voters away from Psoras’ defense experience because his candidate cannot answer Psoras’ extensive courtroom experience.
Shoemaker’s ugly critique of Psoras as a criminal defense attorney is rich. Shoemaker was a criminal defense attorney before he became state’s attorney. Particularly because of his experience, Shoemaker understands the promise of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. Like all competent defense attorneys, he knows that sometimes witnesses are mistaken or untruthful, and sometimes police officers are inaccurate, and yes, sometimes decent people do indecent things. Psoras has provided that constitutional “assistance of counsel” to thousands of Marylanders across the state. He is tough enough to prosecute real criminals and experienced enough to know when the government has overcharged, overreached or failed to prove its case.
Psoras’ campaign slogan is “Make Crime Illegal Again.” The slogan means this: Criminals should be competently prosecuted to a guilty verdict in Carroll County. It doesn’t say or imply leniency. That is the invention of Shoemaker to scare voters from supporting Psoras.
I like Allan Culver and believe him to be an honest lawyer. But in June 2022, the Circuit Court for Carroll County took the extraordinary step of refusing to hear cases presented by Acting State’s Attorney Culver. Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Brady alleged that Culver had not told defense attorneys and the court about credibility and corruption allegations involving a Carroll County sheriff’s deputy in his cases — information that, if true, implicated the prosecution’s constitutional disclosure obligations.
I’m not passing judgment on Culver. I am passing judgment on Shoemaker. When Culver was accused of constitutional misconduct, he needed the protections of due process to help him survive the troubled waters of the criminal justice system. If Culver was falsely accused, then he and Shoemaker know better than anybody why criminal defense attorneys exist. They are the constitutional balance against government error. Even Culver needed the Constitution’s protection of due process of law.
Psoras said he would hire me, along with Joe Murtha, if he is elected. I am surprised that this offends Shoemaker. Shoemaker, who met me one time and knows nothing about my good character, objects to my career. Really? I joined the Howard County Police Department in 1972 at age 17 and served 14 years as a police cadet and police officer. I put myself through college and law school while working full-time for the police department. I have been around the Maryland trial courts as an attorney since 1986. I have represented over 5,000 people accused of crimes as petty as loud noise and as serious as murder. I have represented more than a hundred police officers accused of administrative violations that could have resulted in their termination. And I knew Murtha when he was a law clerk and prosecutor in two offices before he went into the private sector. I have also known and worked alongside Murtha in the private sector. I vouch for his skill, judgment and character. The point is this: Psoras and his announced team would bring more than 120 years of experience to Carroll County — as police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and trial lawyers who have stood on both sides of the courtroom.
George Psoras is a serious trial lawyer who will make the office tougher, fairer and more competent.
Clarke Ahlers is an attorney in private practice.
