By Anita Huslin
                           Washington Post Staff Writer
                           Thursday, September 5, 2002; Page AA37

                   It was a death penalty case involving a murder from his old
                   neighborhood that turned Michael W. Burns off to criminal
                   law, and a stint in the legislature 15 years later that prompted
                   him to reconsider.

                   Today, the native Anne Arundel County resident is running
                   unopposed in the Republican primary for state's attorney and
                   would challenge incumbent Frank Weathersbee in the general
                   election.

                   Burns, a 1983 graduate of the University of Maryland School
                   of Law, has practiced civil law for 19 years, representing
                   plaintiffs who are suing insurance companies, drawing up
                   wills and contracts and doing nonprofit fundraising on the
                   side.

                   Burns has never practiced criminal law, a fact he attributes to a case he worked on in law school
                   involving a defendant's appeal of his conviction and death sentence for the execution-style slaying of a
                   pharmacist in Linthicum.

                   Burns was struck by the brutality of the murder, in which the pharmacist was forced to walk into the
                   basement where he was shot to death and by the fact that it occurred about a mile from where he grew
                   up.

                   "I was in law school doing research to try to help this guy on his appeal, and that was part of my job as
                   a student," Burns recalled. "I couldn't say no, but it made me really uncomfortable, and ultimately I
                   decided I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to take money to keep these guys out of jail."

                   In addition to shying away from criminal defense work in his practice, Burns said he also tries to avoid
                   divorce, DWI and drug cases. "I'm very uncomfortable keeping criminals out of jail," he said.

                   In 1994, Burns ran for public office for the first time and won a seat in the Maryland House of
                   Delegates in District 32, on the west side of Anne Arundel County. It was his assignment to the House
                   Judiciary Committee that prompted him to begin considering issues of judicial process and gave him a
                   platform from which to address the state's criminal code.

                   Burns sponsored or co-sponsored legislation on victims' rights, underage drinking prevention and
                   hit-and-runs, and he studied the state's penalty provisions in drug and gun crime cases.

                   In 1998, Burns lost his bid for reelection when a strong Democratic turnout statewide allowed the party
                   to regain its majority in the legislature. Almost immediately, he began eyeing the state's attorney's office.

                   There he saw an opportunity to fight crime in an office for some autonomy. "I don't have to convince 11
                   other people on the committee on the policy, or anyone in the Senate, or worry about whether the
                   governor's office might have a problem with it, or make sure that state's attorneys around the state will
                   enforce it."

                   If elected, Burns said his two top priorities would be prosecuting drug and gun crimes. He said he
                   would not plea bargain on weapons charges. Burns also said he would seek the death penalty in all
                   eligible cases, with two exceptions: those in which the defendants' family is opposed and those in which
                   the case is based on the uncorroborated testimony of another defendant.

                   "I believe it's more fair for the defendant than relying on the judgment of the state's attorney," Burns
                   said. "If it's eligible, let's take it to the jury and let the jury decide."

                   Burns lives in Linthicum with his wife and two daughters.

                                          © 2002 The Washington Post Company