A Baltimore circuit judge struck the assault and wrongful imprisonment convictions of a Baltimore Shomrim patrol member who beat a black teen in 2010 because she said he had complied well with the terms of his probation-only sentence and was impressed with a report he wrote on diversity.
Eliyahu Werdesheim
Baltimore Shomrim Member Convicted Of Assault Has Probation Halved, Sentence Struck, So He Can Apply To Law School
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A Baltimore circuit judge struck the convictions of a Baltimore Shomrim patrol member who beat a black teen in 2010 because she said he had complied well with the terms of his probation-only sentence, the Baltimore Sun reported tonight.
But Judge Pamela J. White issued that ruling without any apparent input from the victim or his attorney, neither of whom were in court today.
Eliyahu Werdesheim was convicted of wrongful imprisonment and assault in May 2012. His victim, Corey Ausby, is black. Werdesheim is not.
"I definitely made some mistakes. I will never make those mistakes again,” Werdesheim reportedly told White today.
Werdesheim had been sentenced to three years' probation but White struck the conviction, imposed probation before judgment instead and cut Werdesheim's probation in half, which reportedly means it ends at the end of this month.
This reportedly allows Werdesheim to apply for law school without declaring that he has a criminal record.
White was reportedly highly impressed with a 53-page report Werdesheim wrote as part of his original probation on diversity in Baltimore.
Prosecutors reportedly did not oppose the judge’s decision to strike Werdesheim’s sentence and said they had expected this to be done when Werdesheim was originally sentenced.
"We took a serious case to trial, we successfully prosecuted and it and we secured a proportionate and just sentence," Mark Cheshire, a spokesman for the Maryland State’s Attorney’s Office, reportedly said.