Brian Richard Jordan, serving a life sentence for the 1987 slaying of a South Carroll High School student, is expected to be arraigned tomorrow on charges that he tried to kill a fellow inmate during an argument last year.
In an indictment returned last month by an Anne Arundel County grand jury, Jordan, 23, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to maim, reckless endangerment, assault and conspiracy in connection with an Aug. 22 fight at the Maryland House of Correction Annex in Jessup.
The incident, in which an inmate was stabbed and was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, came three months after a panel of Anne Arundel judges halved the sentence that Jordan was serving for the killing of 17-year-old Richard Purman.
Two of the three judges on that panel said in May that, because of Jordan's age at the time of the 1987 shooting -- and because his co-defendant, Brian Matthew Tracy, pulled the trigger -- "the consecutive life sentences should be modified."
In his dissent, Judge Eugene M. Lerner wrote that Jordan, "in my mind, poses a real threat to society. I see no remorse in his heart; he did not turn to the family and apologize. His attitude seems to be, 'How can I get out?' Strong lasting punishment is necessary."
A Division of Correction spokeswoman said several inmates were involved in a "personal disagreement" on the morning of Aug. 22 when Walter Harding was stabbed. Harding, serving a sentence of life plus 35 years for a 1989 murder, was treated at Shock Trauma and returned to the Annex in Jessup, the spokeswoman said.
Jordan was reassigned to the Maryland Penitentiary in Baltimore, where he had begun serving his double life sentence after his 1988 conviction. In 1992, Jordan spent more than a year in the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center -- Supermax -- for inciting a work stoppage at the Pen.
Jordan, formerly of Columbia, and Tracy, 23, of Taylorsville, were convicted in 1988 of murdering Richard Purman. The youth, who had given the two a ride in his car, was shot in the chest in a secluded area of Taylorsville as Jordan and Tracy were trying to steal his car.
Each defendant -- they were 16 when the murder was committed -- was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 20 years. Various courts have taken 20 years off Jordan's sentence and 10 years off Tracy's.
At his sentence-reduction request before the Anne Arundel judges, Jordan's mother and his attorney, J. Barry Hughes of Westminster, argued that he had learned his lesson and was ready to leave prison.
"Brian took part in something that should not have happened," Anna Jordan Reardon said. "He has been in jail for some time now. He has learned a lesson; he knows his involvement in this crime."
Mr. Hughes could not be reached last week for comment on the new indictments. If Jordan is convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to life in prison.