Commentary: What really happened at the DMV

While the article about the recent case of Attorney Grievance Commission v. Harold S. Link Jr., which appeared in the March 22 issue of The Daily Record is generally accurate, I do want to point out some areas that I feel are not accurate and to provide some additional information.

In the first sentence, you give your readers the impression that I called Wilbert Myles a loathsome bureaucrat to his face while I was at the MVA. In reality, the transcript of the hearing in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County clearly indicates that there was no such allegation made by anyone and this never occurred. I simply referred to him in this fashion in my written response to the initial inquiry by the Attorney Grievance Commission. This mistake by Judge Robert E. Cadigan is one of many objective errors to which I drew the attention of the Court of Appeals when I filed my exceptions to his Findings of Fact.

The material which I requested from Mr. Myles was a public record available to anyone and which was not personal information protected by state or federal law. Mr. Myles not only demanded that I produce my driver's license (a request with which I complied), but he went on to demand that I identify myself as an attorney and to produce my MSBA identification card as proof that I was an attorney before he would give me the records I requested (a request with which I refused to comply). Anyone doubting the impropriety of these actions can simply refer to the Maryland Public Information Act.

Your article then goes on to say that I rattled off a series of insults toward Myles, saying that he was incompetent, lazy, and that he did not know the law. Your reporter appears to have gleaned these words from page 4 of the opinion, which quotes Judge Cadigan as follows: In his testimony, he stated Myles is 'rude, arrogant, incompetent and lazy - he doesn't know the law.' The operative words here are in his testimony.

While I did make this statement at the hearing referred to above, I did not make this statement directly to Mr. Myles all at once as the article appears to indicate. At various times while I was at the counter, I did, indeed, relate to Mr. Myles and to his superior that he was incompetent and that he does not know the law. Please refer to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution for my authority in criticizing a government employee who is not complying with the law.

The article then says After Link met with supervisor Delease Ryce, he continued to yell at the two employees. First of all, I adamantly deny ever yelling at anyone. There are security guards all over the Mondawmin MVA, and a customer yelling at anyone would have immediately been granted an audience with them.

Mrs. Ryce never contended that I yelled at anyone, least of all at her. The record is clear that Mrs. Ryce told Mr. Myles, on two occasions, to be quiet so that she could talk to me. As the transcript clearly shows, Mrs. Ryce specifically said that she never asked me to lower my voice and specifically indicated that I was never rude to her. When she came to the counter, Mrs. Ryce immediately overruled Mr. Myles and provided the records I needed without the need for me to identify myself as an attorney. She also apologized for Mr. Myles' conduct.

Anyone interested in what really happened at MVA that day can read my response to the initial inquiry by the Commission, which is an exhibit in the case and which bears very little similarity to Judge Cadigan's Findings, or one can read the transcript of the hearing.

Harold S. Link Jr. is a lawyer from Cockeysville in Baltimore County.

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