Precision counts

HERE'S A timely excerpt from this month's Anne Arundel Bar Association newsletter:

"The president, if able to forum shop, might prefer a perjury trial in Maryland. The Court of Special Appeals, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, holds that a defendant may not be convicted of perjury for a statement which was 'literally true [but effectively] unresponsive and implied a negative answer.' Thus, precise questioning is imperative as a predicate for the offense of perjury."

Andrea F. Siegel

License to speak

ALMOST THREE hours into an Annapolis hearing on St. Helena Island on Thursday, Crownsville resident Beatrice Peirce stepped up to the microphone and tried to clarify some ground rules with Stephen LeGendre, county administrative hearing officer, before speaking.

"I understand I can say anything, right?" Peirce asked.

Smiling, LeGendre leaned forward.

"You can say anything, short of saying anything obscene or irrelevant to any of these proceedings," he said.

Cheryl Tan

God bless the U.S.A.

ARE TODAY's midshipmen patriotic? You judge.

In a recent issue of the Naval Academy's on-campus newspaper, Trident, editors asked a sampling of academy workers and Mids what they consider to be the biggest break they've had in their lives.

Senior Jeremy Pelstring said this: "Singing the National Anthem at the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia this past December."

Neal Thompson

Pub Date: 2/14/99