Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess will remain off the prosecution of an Edgewater murder case, judges with the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled Tuesday.
Three judges with the Appellate Court of Maryland agreed to keep Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess off the prosecution of an Edgewater murder case.
In an opinion issued Tuesday, the judges dismissed an appeal by the state to reinstate Leitess to the case of James Houston, an Edgewater health care executive accused of stabbing his wife to death.
Leitess was removed from the case May 6 after it was determined she had not disclosed conversations with 15 witnesses. In one of those conversations, Leitess – the county’s top and only elected prosecutor – learned of an allegation from a friend of James Houston that his wife had once pulled a knife on him and failed to tell the defense team.
Leitess testified that after hearing the knife allegation, she told the detective on the case to follow up with Houston’s friend. She said she “absolutely” would have disclosed the allegation once that interview took place. But the follow-up never happened. The detective testified he lost track of time.
Houston’s trial was set to begin on May 23 without Leitess as a prosecutor. Days before, however, a panel of the Appellate Court of Maryland granted the state’s request for an emergency delay in the proceedings.
On Wednesday, the Appellate Court granted another request by the state to continue to pause proceedings in the case. According to court documents, that pause is to remain in effect pending the state’s filing of a petition in the Supreme Court of Maryland regarding the case. The court document did not give details on the petition the state is filing.
The Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Houston’s attorney, John Robinson, also declined to comment on the Appellate Court’s decision.
This article was originally published by Maggie Trovato in the Baltimore Sun on June 4, 2025. Read the original article here.