INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CONFERENCE
APRIL 7-12 2024
LAS VEGAS
Tarnished Badge: Lessons Learned from Investigation & Prosecution of Decade-Long Series of Multi-County “Revenge” Fires
Thursday, April 11, 2024 (1:00pm - 5:00pm) (Celebrity 1 - 3)
David Crawford, retired Police Chief from Laurel City, Maryland, terrorized his community with a series of arsons from 2011 to 2019. He set fires to the homes of former colleagues, family members, and community members in the middle of the night to exact his revenge for self-perceived slights. Crawford committed arsons across six Maryland counties over eight years, culminating in a total of 12 arsons. Four jurisdictions indicted the Defendant, and Howard County proceeded to trial on charges of attempted murder, first degree arson, and malicious burning.
By the end of the class, participants will learn: the importance of properly documenting the scene and the use of NFPA 921 to redo an incomplete investigation, how to synthesize a significant amount of evidence and best present that evidence to a jury, how to manage 40+ witness, the use of “other crimes” evidence to prove the State’s case, and the power of a dynamic power point presentation in closing arguments.
Tricia Cecil, Esq.
Tricia Cecil is a Senior Assistant State’s Attorney in Howard County, Maryland. She has been a prosecutor for 16 years, currently working in the office’s Major Crimes Unit, where she prosecutes felonies such as burglaries, robberies, drug distribution and armed trafficking, economic crimes, traffic fatalities, homicides, and arson. Prior to working as a career prosecutor, Tricia clerked for the Honorable Richard S. Bernhardt in the Howard County Circuit Court. A graduate of the University of the University of Maryland, Tricia received her law degree from the University of Baltimore in 2007.
Scott Hammond, Esq.
Scott Hammond is a Senior Assistant State’s Attorney in Howard County, Maryland. He has been a prosecutor for 17 years, currently working in the office’s Major Crimes Unit, where he prosecutes felonies such as burglaries, robberies, drug distribution and armed trafficking, economic crimes, traffic fatalities, homicides, and arson. Prior to working as a career prosecutor, Scott worked in the real estate title Industry and prior to that was in ticket sales for the Baltimore Orioles. A graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA, Scott received his law degree from the University of Baltimore in 2006.