By: David Collins
WBATV
Gov. Larry Hogan signed more than 200 bills into law Tuesday on issues such as free tuition to community college, cyberbullying and one designed to make it easier to convict serial rapists.
Shatia Landsdowne-Ware is a rape victim. Her attacker, Nelson Clifford, is a serial predator who beat four other rape charges claiming consensual sex. A jury convicted him three years ago to the day.
Hogan signed legislation designed to make it easier to put people like him away. City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and Lansdowne-Ware lobbied lawmakers for years to pass it.
“Speak out, speak out, stand up. Do not give these predators any power. Do not allow them to feel like they’ve won. They deserve to be behind bars, and we deserve to have our stories told so that we can begin to move on with our lives,” Lansdowne-Ware said.
The new law authorizes judges to allow evidence of previous bad acts by defendants. It triggers an evidentiary hearing in the judge’s chambers if the perpetrator admits to sex, but claims the victim consented or the defendant contends a child fabricated the incident. Prosecutors will use previous acts to prove a pattern of behavior.
“This is going to be a sea change for how sexual assault cases are prosecuted,” said Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary.
Baltimore County Sen. Jim Brochin, now running for county executive, has been for pushing passage of this legislation for the past 14 years.
“This takes serial predators in the state of Maryland and puts them behind bars where they belong, so they can’t attack somebody else again,” Brochin said.
Mosby credits the powerful testimony of survivors for passage.
“We are now in conformity with 37 other states in closing that loop hole for repeat sexual predators, as well as the federal standards,” Mosby said.
“I think that it shows that, if you don’t give up, you can get anything accomplished,” Landsdowne-Ware said.
The measure, which is modeled after federal legislation, takes affect July 1.