Assault charges against Prince George’s County Chief Deputy Clerk David J. Billings III have been placed on the state’s attorney inactive docket of cases, according to court documents.
Placing the case on the inactive, or stet, docket means that, unless Circuit Court Clerk Marilynn M. Bland or the state’s attorney’s office places the case on the list of active cases before Sept. 7, 2014, the case against Billings won’t proceed to trial, according to state’s attorney spokesman John Erzen.
Billings was facing second degree assault charges for an incident that allegedly occurred July 9 in Bland’s office.
Bland accused her primary deputy and long-time political operative of injuring her during a dispute in her office.
According to police, Bland said Billings, 76, who helped run Bland’s successful campaign for a county council position seat, entered her office uninvited at about 9:30 a.m. July 9. When she tried to open the door to let another staffer in, Billings, a doctor of divinity who has been her political confidant for more than a decade allegedly grabbed her hand and pushed it off the door handle, then pushed her backward.
A court document said she then left out of a back door and contacted authorities.
Bland said her wrist was injured. She was treated on the scene by Prince George’s County fire and rescue officials for minor swelling to her wrist. Her blood pressure was elevated, according to a police report.
Billings, who turned 76 the day before, has been charged with second-degree assault in the July 9 incident. He was released on his own recognizance. “Defendant is to have no violent contact with Marilynn Bland,” the police document said.
Meanwhile, neither Billings nor Bland answered calls at their offices.
Several people who know Billings, who asked that their names not be revealed, expressed shock that he had been arrested for allegedly assaulting Bland. He has been among her closest confidantes since he ran her campaign for council in 2002, they said.
“He’s the reason why she’s in public office,” said one lawyer who has known Billings since he came to Prince George’s County. “I am sure that he would never intentionally have injured her.”
When she served on the county council, Bland drew attention when she fired her brother, who worked for her.
