MEET THE JUDGES

Sylvester B. Cox

Associate Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Cox was an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City; a position he held since 1988. In 1997, Judge Cox was named Chief of the Firearms Investigations and Violence Enforcement Unit of the Major Crimes Division. In 1995, he received a commendation from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Baltimore City Police Department (BCPD) for his service. The Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City (BCSAO) is responsible for the prosecution of all crimes that occur in Baltimore City. Employing over 200 attorneys and an additional 200 administrative and support staff, the BCSAO is the largest local prosecutorial office in the state of Maryland and prosecutes over 40,000 cases each year.
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Althea M. Handy

Associate Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Handy was an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City; a position she held since 1987. In 1999, Judge Handy was named Division Chief of the Sex Offense Unit. She also served as a Senior Prosecutor in the Homicide Division during her tenure. Judge Handy received a Merit award from the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City (BCSAO) in 1995. The BCSAO is responsible for the prosecution of all crimes that occur in Baltimore City. Employing over 200 attorneys and an additional 200 administrative and support staff, the BCSAO is the largest local prosecutorial office in the state of Maryland and prosecutes over 40,000 cases each year. READ FULL BIO

Robert Taylor, Jr.
Associate Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Taylor was an Assistant Attorney General in the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, a position he held since 2005. During his tenure he served as senior counsel for forensic litigation in the Criminal Appeals Division. In that role, he represented the State in over 500 criminal appeals in Maryland’s appellate courts, and filed briefs in several cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to his tenure with the State of Maryland, he worked in private practice as a criminal and civil trial attorney for a decade, trying cases in nearly every Maryland jurisdiction. READ FULL BIO

Gregory Sampson

Associate Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Sampson was an Associate Judge, District Court of Maryland – District 1, Baltimore City; a position he held since 2009. During his tenure on the bench, Judge Sampson served as Judge-in Charge of the Eastside Courthouse and oversaw the Civil Division of the Court. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Sampson was the Master in Chancery, Juvenile Division, Baltimore City Circuit Court; a position he held since 1990. A Master – now known as a Magistrate – may be appointed by a sitting judge as an officer of the court to perform specific functions that assist the court in handling family and juvenile matters. The Baltimore City Juvenile Court is a Court of limited jurisdiction with responsibility for delinquency, child welfare, and adoption/guardianship cases.  READ FULL BIO

Anthony F. Vittoria

Associate Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Vittoria was an Administrative Law Judge with the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, a position he held since 2018. The Maryland Legislature created the independent Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) in 1990 to provide the public with a corps of Administrative Law Judges to decide appeals of administrative agency decisions. Administrative Law Judges preside over thousands of hearings a year and pride themselves on maintaining an outstanding record of issuing a decision in each case within ninety days or less. READ FULL BIO