First prosecution by AG division leads to dismissed charges against Anne Arundel cops

Ian Round

The Daily Record

September 24, 2025

A judge on Tuesday afternoon dismissed misconduct charges against two Anne Arundel County police officers whom the Maryland Attorney General‘s Office accused of lying about their role in a fatal car crash in December 2023.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Stacy McCormack dismissed the misconduct charges against Eddie Vasquez and Kieran Schnell on Sept. 23 before trial, saying the OAG’s case may have been tainted by privileged information.

“This is a vindication for them,” said defense attorney Andrew Jezic, who represented Vasquez.

Both Jezic and Peter O’Neill, who represented Schnell, said they were glad the charges were dismissed, but had hoped the case would go to trial because they were confident a jury would acquit their clients.

“Quite frankly, we were looking forward to a trial,” O’Neill said. He described the dismissal as a “legally sound decision” but said it felt “bittersweet.”

Both Vasquez and Schnell were reinstated Tuesday, Jezic and O’Neill said in a joint phone call.

The case, filed in December 2024, was the first prosecution by the OAG’s Independent Investigations Division, which investigates police-involved incidents that result in death.

The division was created in 2021 and gained the power to bring charges in 2023; it was created because of what Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown called the closeness between local law enforcement and state’s attorneys’ offices, which he argued allowed cops to escape accountability.

At a press conference announcing the charges, Brown said the IID would “hold all Marylanders accountable, regardless of their career.”

The cases were dismissed because the OAG failed to prove that it didn’t use information Vasquez and Schnell were compelled to provide to internal police department investigators. Officers’ compelled statements to internal investigators, known as Garrity statements, are privileged and may not be used in any way in a criminal prosecution.

In such cases, a group is formed to ensure the prosecution isn’t tainted by the officers’ compelled and privileged statements.

At two days of testimony earlier this month, the OAG failed to call the chief attorney on the “taint team,” who was responsible for ensuring these compelled statements were not provided to the trial team, according to Jezic and O’Neill.

They noted OAG requested the entire file from the internal investigation, including the privileged compelled statements. McCormack said the entire file was not provided, but certain OAG officials did have access to the compelled statements and it was unclear whether or how they used them. The defense lawyers also said a member of the “taint team” later joined the trial team.

“We were just astounded,” O’Neill said, by the OAG’s conduct.

“The court has not made this decision lightly whatsoever,” McCormack said during a brief hearing on Tuesday, according to a recording provided by a law clerk for Jezic.

“I have found that the defendants sufficiently raised the issue that Garrity statements may have tainted his case. That is all the defense is required to do — simply raise the issue.”

She said there was a “sheer lack of policies and procedures in the Attorney General’s Office with regard to the compelled statements.”

The OAG may appeal the decision. The office maintained that it did not use privileged information.

“We are reviewing the court’s decision to determine next steps,” a spokesperson stated in an email. “The State’s case against the officers does not rely on any compelled statements. We are disappointed that the trial court did not allow the IID to demonstrate that fact at the hearing.”

Vasquez and Schnell were accused of lying to superiors about their participation in a high-speed chase in December 2023 after they saw a car speeding from Baltimore City into Anne Arundel County.

At one point, all three cars were going over 100 mph. The car the police were chasing crashed into a pole; the passenger died and the driver survived. Neither officer activated their lights or sirens, they neglected to obtain approval from a superior to conduct the chase, and they lied to superiors about what happened, according to the indictment.

When the charges were filed, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said the officers’ conduct did not rise to the level of criminality. A police spokesperson stated in an email that an administrative investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Standards is ongoing.