Articles Posted in Case law

In the recently filed case Edward Charles Schmitt v. State of Maryland, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals considered whether evidence was sufficient to convict a man of sexual abuse or exploitation of a minor where the minor was not aware of the abuse or exploitation.

The defendant moved in with his girlfriend in October 2007. His girlfriend had two minor children. In 2009, the girlfriend noticed a memory card hidden behind a picture on a bookshelf where the defendant stored things. She also found a plastic camera the size of a pack of a chewing gum, into which the memory card fit. The girlfriend saw three files on the memory card. The third file was a video of her fifteen-year-old daughter’s bedroom, taken from inside the closet.

On the video, the defendant and his girlfriend’s daughter were each shown. The defendant was shown masturbating. He left. Next the girlfriend’s daughter was shown entering the room and changing her clothes. She testified later that she didn’t place the camera in the closet nor permit the defendant to place it there.

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The Maryland Court of Appeal recently considered a case, Waker v. State, which should be important to all criminal defendants. Prior to a 2009 amendment, a Maryland theft statute provided that theft of something worth not more than $500 was a misdemeanor not to be punished by more than 18 months in prison. If the stolen item was worth more than $500 it would be regarded as a felony with a higher prison sentence.

In 2009, the Maryland General Assembly amended the statute so that the theft of property valuing less than $1,000 was a misdemeanor, meaning that it could be punished by imprisonment of no more than 18 months. The theft statute was also amended to provide that theft of property worth more than $1000 but less than $10,000 is a felony. This law was signed by the Governor on May 19, 2009, and became effective October 1 of the same year.

In this case, Calvin Waker bought some items at Walmart using a fraudulent credit card in March 2009. He was caught and charged with stealing property valued at $615 and was set to go to trial in March 2009. After a postponement, his trial was held in December of 2009 instead. Waker waived his right to a jury trial and was tried on an “agreed not guilty statement of facts.” He was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. At the time of the theft, Waker was subject to the earlier statute which said that anybody convicted of property or services valued at $500 or more is guilty of a felony, and he was sentenced accordingly. Continue reading

The Court of Special Appeals in Maryland recently considered an interesting question of criminal law: whether a trial judge may condition probation on no direct contact between a defendant and his victim, even when the two are married and want to be together.

Lambert v. State arose in 2009, when James Lambert and his wife were arguing over a lockbox. Lambert pushed his wife and she fell down stairs hurting her head and abdomen. According to Lambert, he was just pushing her away from the lockbox and didn’t intend for his wife to fall. However, he pled guilty to second-degree assault and at his sentencing hearing admitted several prior assaults on his wife.

The wife didn’t show up at the hearing, but did write a letter saying she wasn’t afraid of Mr. Lambert and wanted to go to counseling and reconcile with him. The trial judge sentenced Mr. Lambert to three years of confinement. This confinement was suspended while he remained on three years of supervised probation. Noting a pattern of assault between the two that he had seen in a case in his own career as an attorney, the trial judge conditioned probation on the defendant having “no contact” with his wife during probation. Continue reading