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By Danielle E. Gaines News-Post Staff

The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office did not comply with state notification laws after a courthouse deputy’s family member was reported shot to death in their home.

In response to a Public Information Act request from The Frederick News-Post, State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said his office became aware of the death, which occurred early Feb. 27, that afternoon through “collateral sources.”

Maryland law requires the police or sheriff to immediately notify the medical examiner and state’s attorney when a death occurs by violence, suicide, casualty, suddenly, or in any suspicious or unusual manner. The law enforcement agency is required to give the known facts concerning the time, place, manner and circumstances of the death, according to the law.

The law does not outline any penalties for failure to make a notification.

Smith said his office contacted the sheriff’s office the day it learned of the death. On the morning of the next workday, Detective Jason West telephoned Assistant State’s Attorney Kirsten Brown, chief of the office’s violent crimes division.

Smith said there is no official documentation of the communication because it was over the phone.

Smith said it’s not uncommon for someone in his office to respond to a death, because if the case goes to trial, it’s helpful for prosecutors to have some awareness of the scene, he said.

But his office often doesn’t respond to the scene of a suicide report, Smith said.

“That would depend upon how the case was reported to us,” he said.

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said Friday he didn’t know why the notification wasn’t initially made.

“We’ve addressed that internally,” Jenkins said. “I can assure you that won’t happen again in the future.”

A number of first responders reported to the courthouse deputy’s home for the report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just before 3:30 a.m. Feb. 27, according to scanner communications obtained by The News-Post.

The man is a non-sworn civilian courthouse deputy who was hired by the sheriff’s office less than two years ago, Jenkins said. His service weapon was used in the shooting.

The family member later died at Frederick Memorial Hospital, according to an obituary submitted by the family.

An investigator from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was notified shortly after deputies were called and went to the house, Jenkins previously told The News-Post.

The medical examiner or investigator is required to take possession of and deliver to the state’s attorney or his designee any object or article that could be useful in establishing the cause of death.

An autopsy report showed the cause of death was two gunshot wounds.

Lawyer Andrew V. Jezic has been hired by family members of the deceased to assist them during the investigation.

“I’ve been hired to interview witnesses and to look carefully at all the evidence the state is willing to give me. I am grateful to Charlie Smith for taking into consideration the report that we have sent,” Jezic said in a phone interview. “I am also grateful to the sheriff’s office’s willingness to reach out to the family of the deceased to share as much information as is legally permitted.”

Two investigations related to the case are ongoing: a criminal investigation and an internal affairs investigation.

“As a citizen, I’m concerned that a courthouse deputy allegedly kept two unlocked, loaded handguns, one of which was his service revolver, in a home with a 3-year-old,” Jezic said.

It is a misdemeanor in Maryland to keep a loaded gun that could be accessed by a child under the age of 16.

The Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions, the organization that certifies police officers and police agencies in the state, trains officers to always keep their service weapons unloaded while at home, with the ammunition stored separately. Secondary security devices, such as a safe or lock, are also recommended, a firearms instructor told The News-Post in March.

Smith said his office was in possession of some but not all documents created by the sheriff’s office relating to the investigation. No documents had been created by his office, Smith said in a written response to the request for information. None of the documents would be subject to disclosure under state public information laws because of the ongoing investigation, he added.

The Frederick News-Post has also requested copies of reports and recordings from the sheriff’s office.

April, 2013

Maryland criminal lawyer Rand W. Lucey obtained a new trial for a client that had pled guilty to drug possession in 2009. With his plea vacated, the client who had been detained bu ICE for months pending deportation proceedings, was released from ICE custody and granted permanent resident status by an immigration judge the following month.

April, 2013

In April 2013, Howard County prosecutors dismissed all charges against a Jezic, Krum & Moyse client accused of killing her boyfriend in 1994. The client pled guilty to manslaughter in 1995, but in 2010 Maryland criminal Attorneys Rand Lucey and Andrew Jezic successfully convinced a Howard County Judge to grant his client a new trial. After initially appealing the Judge’s decision, the State ultimatly decided not to prosecute the client.

Monday 04/15/2013

After a four-day jury trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court, and after 11 hours of deliberation, Mr Jezic’s client remains free on bond after the jury remained deadlocked or “hung,” and a mistrial was declared by the circuit court judge. The re-trial on several counts of sexual offense will occur in four months.

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A Gaithersburg man whose wife runs a Montgomery Village child day care center faces charges of child sex abuse.

April 2013,

Criminal attorney Jonathan R. Oates successfully fought and won deal in Prince George’s County Circuit Court for client accused of possessing and distributing over 45 lbs of marijuana.  Despite being charged with two felonies, and having a previous felony conviction for distributing CDS, attorney Jonathan Oates’ advocacy on behalf of his client prevented him from receiving another felony conviction, and secured him against any jail time in the future.

Thursday April 25, 2013 ,

Mr. Jezic convinced a District Court judge in Prince George’s County to reduce his client’s bond from 400,000 to 17,500, despite the very serious charges of sexual child abuse.  Several family members testified at tbe bond hearing, including the client’s ex-wife.  The client was freed six hours later and is preparing a vigorous defense in front of a Prince George’s County jury with Mr. Jezic.

A Damascus man accused of running down two Potomac men in December with his mother’s black Honda Civic — killing one and injuring the other — pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

Fernando Josue Valenzuela, 21, faces 20 years in prison for the crime, according to his plea agreement. He could have faced up to 55 years if found guilty in a trial.

Valenzuela had gotten off work at around 10 p.m. Dec. 4. He and friends bought some Blue Moon beers and drank together, before driving to a nearby McDonald’s restaurant to eat, Assistant State’s Attorney Eric Nee said in court.

Witnesses told prosecutors that Valenzuela is “somewhat shy” when sober, but more combative when he drinks, Nee said.

The restaurant was closed, he said. Instead, they went to a 7-Eleven convenience store across the street, where they met Billie and James Genies,  two brothers from Tobytown Drive in Potomac. The brothers asked Valenzuela for a ride to Gaithersburg, and said they would give him and his friends some marijuana for the ride.

“Things between the young men were very cordial,” Nee said. “There was no animosity.”

In Gaithersburg, the men got out of the car near Lakeforest mall to relieve themselves, Nee said.

Nee told Judge David Boynton that as Valenzuela got back into his car, the Genies brothers began walking away, without paying Valenzuela or giving him any marijuana.

Valenzuela became angry and started following them slowly in the car, Nee said.

Valenzuela told two other passengers in the car, “I’m going to hit them. I’m going to run them over,” Nee said. He sped up, passed them and circled back around. Then, he swerved toward the brothers, and plowed into them near the entrance to The Avalon School.

Police couldn’t determine how fast the car had been going, but “the force … knocked them out of their shoes,” Nee said. The impact demolished the Honda’s windshield, he said, and dented its hood.

Valenzuela drove off, abandoned the car nearby and called a friend, who drove him back to Damascus, Nee said.

James Genies, 35, was knocked unconscious by the impact. After he woke up, he ran to his girlfriend’s house and called police, who found the brothers’ shoes, hats, and cellphones strewn across West Diamond Avenue near The Avalon School when they arrived.

Billie Genies was suffering from “massive trauma to his head,” according to Valenzuela’s charging documents. He died at the scene.

Rescue personnel took his brother, James, to a local hospital for his injuries, which were not life-threatening.

Valenzuela’s father, Edgar Fernando Valenzuela, said in an interview that his son called him around 3 a.m., shortly after the accident.

“It surprised me when they said somebody was dead. … I didn’t believe it at first. My son is a good son,” Valenzuela said.

His son, the second of five, worked full time in construction, as well as at Chipotle, while he saved to go to college, he said.

The elder Valenzuela said his son decided to plead guilty while in protective custody in jail.

“It broke my heart,” he said of his son’s decision to plead guilty to the charges.

“He didn’t feel good about what he did to the Genies family,” Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela pleaded guilty to the “depraved heart” version of second-degree murder, meaning he acted with “extreme indifference for human life,” but didn’t necessary intend his victim’s death, said Andy Jezic, his lawyer.

Valenzuela is in protective custody in the jail because James Genies is an inmate there, as well, Jezic said.

Genies was arrested in February in a separate incident and charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest, and other charges, online court records show. He has a trial date scheduled this month in Rockville District Court.

His family members, including his mother and grandmother, declined to speak to media after Valenzuela’s plea.

Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the county’s State’s Attorneys Office, said the plea held Valenzuela accountable for his actions, which showed “callousness and disregard” for his victims’ safety.

Valenzuela is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1.

May, 2013

In Loudoun County, Virginia, the effective advocacy of attorney Jonathan R. Oates resulted in a misdemeanor deal with no probation, despite the allegations that his client had fraudulently taken over $20,000.

Despite the prosecutor demanding a felony conviction, crimina attorney Jonathan Oates was able to persuasively present the defendant’s side of the story, not the story of the detective and alleged victim.

May, 2013

On the first morning of a jury trial in May 2013, Criminal attorney David Moyse got all felonies dismissed in a home invasion armed robbery case in Montgomery County.

Moyse’s client plead only to misdemeanors with one year of work release, despite confessing to police that he had been inside the house at the time of the armed robbery.

Moyse’s investigation up until the night before trial revealed inconsistencies that led to the last-second victory for his client.