Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger has not had a Democratic primary challenger since he was first elected in 2006.
The four-term incumbent has one now.
At their first political forum, challenger Robbie Leonard tried to paint Shellenberger as a prosecutor who goes easy on bad cops, a charge the state’s attorney vigorously denied. The candidates also mixed it up over police reform and the county’s murder rate.
During the November 24 forum sponsored by the Randallstown Branch of the NAACP, Leonard challenged Shellenberger’s handling of the prosecution of former county police officer Anthony Westerman. Last month, Circuit Judge Keith Truffer sentenced Westerman to four years of home detention while he appeals his conviction on multiple counts of raping and sexually assaulting a 22-year-old woman in 2017.
Leonard said Westerman should be in prison.
Read more (and listen) at WYPR.
