User:Queen of Hearts/Drafts/Laura Neuman

Queen of Hearts/Drafts/Laura Neuman
Neuman in 2014
Executive of Anne Arundel County
In office February 22, 2013 – December 1, 2014
Preceded by	John R. Hammond (acting)
Succeeded by	Steve Schuh
Personal details
Born	Laura Ann Neuman (1965-02-03) February 3, 1965 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Republican (former)
Children	2
Education	Loyola University Maryland (MBA)
Website	Official website

Laura Ann Neuman (born February 3, 1965) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as executive of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, from 2013 to 2014. Formerly a Republican, she joined the Democratic Party after serving as executive and was a candidate in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial Democratic primary.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Neuman dropped out of school and passed the General Educational Development tests. While she briefly moved out of the home of her parents and began working as a waitress, she was fired and returned to her parents after she was raped on October 14, 1983. Baltimore Police Department detectives and Neuman's parents doubted that she was raped, and the detectives claimed that she wished to end the investigation, which she denied. The case was revived in 2002 after she was referred to a detective who was working on the backlog of rape cases; the perpetrator pleaded guilty on September 30. After a career in retail, she was hired by T. Rowe Price and received a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University Maryland in 2000.

Neuman became executive on February 22, 2013, elected by the Anne Arundel County Council to succeed John R. Leopold.

Early life and education

Laura Ann Neuman was born in Baltimore, on February 3, 1965, to John, a drafter, and Diane Neuman. She was one of five children, and one of her sisters was mentally disabled. She grew up in Northwood, Baltimore, and was raised as a Catholic. She moved away from her parents at the age of 18 and began working as a waitress, but was fired after a law was passed which made her too young to serve alcohol. After a career in retail, she convinced T. Rowe Price to hire her as an investor representative despite not having a college degree.

Neuman dropped out of school and passed the General Educational Development tests. She attended Essex Community College but did not graduate; she later attended Catonsville Community College and Notre Dame of Maryland University but did not graduate due to work. She was accepted into a master's program at the Sellinger School of Business and Management of Loyola University Maryland at the age of 30, which was rare for people without a bachelor's degree; she graduated with a Master of Business Administration in 2000. She later graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program.

Rape

It sounded like a shuffling noise in the background. But then, of course I was awakened, and without going into too much detail, I did wake up to a gun to my head and a pillow over my face.

Neuman describing her rape, 2003

On October 14, 1983, Neuman, who was then 18 years old and a student at Essex Community College, was raped by Alphonso Hill. While asleep in an apartment she shared with a roommate in Cedarcroft, Baltimore, Hill entered the house through a window; Neuman claimed she heard him enter, but believed it was her roommate. Hill removed Newman's glasses, put a pillow over her face, and pointed a gun at her right temple. After asking her age, Hill gagged Neuman with a washcloth and raped her in her bed; after the rape, Hill left through her front door. When her roommate came home, she thought Hill had come back to kill her.

Two Baltimore Police Department (BPD) detectives arrived at Neuman's house to question her and her roommate; Neuman later claimed that the questioning felt like an interrogation and that she did not know why they sounded skeptical of her being raped. An officer took her to Mercy Medical Center, where semen samples were collected from her body and underwear; she was discharged around 5 a.m. She continued to hold onto her discharge form, believing that she would be unable to prove that the rape happened without it. Neuman's parents were skeptical of the claim that she was raped; Diane later said she initially believed that Laura claimed to be raped to cover up a pregnancy, which was informed by a police officer telling Diane that she was skeptical of Laura's explanation.

After the rape, Neuman moved back to her parent's house. Police claimed that, due to the stress caused to Neuman and her family, she requested that the case be dropped:

Ms. Neuman stated that this case has caused her a lot of trouble with her mother and brothers and sisters as they do not believe her that the offense happened. She wishes to drop the investigation due to the fact that she could not identify the suspect and she has moved home and wishes the matter to end. She feels that as long as there is an investigation her home life will be hard. I wish this case suspended by request of victim.

Neuman denied making such a request and later said, "I take offense to the idea that I would have wanted it closed". She described the next four years of her life as a "gray place" and said that she remembered little until she was 23, when she "started living a normal life again, taking trips, going out with friends". Between the rape and Hill's trial, Neuman never lived alone and checked everywhere in her house for stalkers, kept a knife under her bed, and made escape plans for each area of her home. She described her fears as "really a fear of the dark, a fear of the night. I have an image that's etched into my mind, and it's a question of whether or not I can block it".

Revival of investigation and trial

An appearance by BPD commissioner Ed Norris on 20/20 encouraged Neuman to continue pursuring an investigation.

In January 2002, Neuman saw BPD commissioner Ed Norris speaking on 20/20 on how the BPD had a large backlog of unresolved rape cases and, due to insufficient funding, rape kits which they were unable to analyze. This segment led Neuman to call several lawyers and BPD departments; after two months without help, she was referred to Bernard Holthaus, a detective in the BPD's sex crime unit. When she initially called the unit, they told her Holthaus was away for two weeks; after calling every day, she reached him on April 8.

When Neuman reached Holthaus, he questioned her; while he initially believed that her case was one of many and that he could not take it due to overload, he began treating the case as a priority after Neuman shared how it had affected her life. Holthaus, alongside fellow detective Chester Norton, retrieved Neuman's case number – the one written on her discharge form was incorrect – and requested a copy of the police report. While waiting for the report, they searched for her rape kit, but it was lost.

Holthaus and Norton received Neuman's report and fingerprints from the scene on April 11. The fingerprints were entered into the Maryland Automated Fingerprint Identification System, where they were matched with Hill in 30 minutes. After Neuman told Holthaus that no African-American men had visited the apartment while she lived there, he revealed that the fingerprints matched Hill – who was then a 50-year-old philosophy student at Coppin State University – and took pictures of her to interrogate Hill. With only fingerprints, evidence against Hill was weak, and the investigators hoped for a confession.

Holthaus and Norton picked Hill up at Coppin State University on April 16; he did not resist. In an interrogation room, the detectives showed Hill the pictures of Neuman and told him about her life after she was raped. Hill confessed to raping her soon after, saying that he was using free base cocaine and was on a "peeping spree", which he described as "just go up and peep until I find and see something stimulating until I will jack off on it and go home", but he had entered Neuman's home after seeing her. After the arrest, Neuman said she was liberated and "felt like a different person". When the case was solved, Neuman's name was not released; she later said she came forward to show that being a victim of rape should not cause shame.

I was persistent. It's absurd, a sad commentary that it has to come down to that. I found detectives who were willing to take on the case. We need to give police the resources to make this happen for other people.

Neuman after Hill was convicted

At trial on September 30, assistant state's attorney of Baltimore Adam C. Rosenburg announced that Hill had reached a plea bargain. Under the deal, he would be sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree rape, while charges for first-degree rape and using a gun while committing a felony would dropped. Judge John M. Glynn accepted the deal and asked both parties if they had any comments:

[Glynn asks Hill for comments]

Hill: I've been facing guilt, trying to fight my own addiction. I'd just like to tell her I'm sorry for what I've done. I wish I was caught earlier in life so I wouldn't be so old going to jail. It's never too late to ask her to forgive me. I've been asking God to forgive me.

[Glynn asks Neuman for comments]

Neuman: I know it's been 19 years, but it's been 19 years of hell. I've not slept alone in my home for 19 years. I've had roommates, begged people to stay with me. I live every single night in fear because of what you did. I don't want to continue to live in fear with anger and hatred. All I can say is thanks at least for saying sorry, because it's been really painful.

Hill: I'm sorry.

[Neuman nods and turns away]

After 19 minutes, the proceeding ended, and Hill was taken away in handcuffs and leg shackles. The day after the proceeding, Neuman met Paul Volkman – a 42-year-old – and began dating him.

Hill was charged in a further 6 rapes between 1978 and 1989 in Baltimore County on August 28, 2007. Laura said that she was "thrilled" that other rape victims were receiving closure and claimed she was not surprised that Hill had performed other rapes, saying, "He seemed to know what he was doing. He seemed very confident about the process of doing it."

Business career

In May 2003, Neuman launched the Laura Neuman Foundation to encourage rape victims to come forward and encourage police departments to investigate old rape cases. The foundation was planned to hold its first fundraiser on May 8; Neuman said that she expected around 300 people to attend, including Debbie Smith, the namesake of a federal act to give grants for the analysis of rape kits.

Neuman served as interim executive director of the Chesapeake Innovation Center – a homeland security incubator which was founded by the Anne Arundel County government – from June 2006 to February 2007.

Political career

Anne Arundel County executive

Neuman was elected to succeed John R. Leopold, who resigned after he was convicted of misconduct in office.

Neuman (right) with Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, August 2014

Neuman – a largely unknown political outsider – was elected as Anne Arundel County executive by the Anne Arundel County Council on February 21, 2013. She was elected to serve the remaining 22 months of John R. Leopold's term; Leopold resigned after being convicted of misconduct in office. She was elected 4-3 on the third ballot, with the support of all three Democrats and one Republican. She defeated 15 other candidates, including frontrunners David Cordle, a county prosecutor; John R. Hammond, who had served as acting executive since Leopold's resignation on February 1; and Steve Schuh, a state delegate who later served as executive. She was sworn in the next day. Lawrence Twele was appointed to succeed her as CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority on February 22.

Before Neuman was elected, she claimed to the council that she would use Anne Arundel County's location and resources – including Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Fort Meade – to its advantage, grow its economy, and improve public opinion and the integrity of the county government. After Neuman was elected, she appeared surprised; she later vowed to "serve the community well". Democratic Howard County executive Kenneth Ulman – under whom Neuman served as CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority – congratulated her appointment, saying, "I know the citizens of the county will be impressed with her drive and commitment." Hammond called Neuman's election "a good choice" and said he was not disappointed at not being elected.

After her election, Neuman fired county attorney Jonathan Hodgson and replaced chief of staff Erik Robey – both Leopold appointments – on February 25.

Personal life

Neuman is married with two children.

External links

• Official website