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United States District Court for the District of Maryland
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Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland

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In an interesting recent case, the defendant was charged with theft of property worth more than $100,000 and related offenses after occupying a home without permission for 7 months. The home was an expensive single-family dwelling. The owner had moved out and offered the property for sale with a Coldwell Banker realtor. When she moved out, the doors and windows were secured and the property was in good condition.

The defendant did not know the owner, but pretended he had a lease with the owner to rent the property. The defendant had been a former client of the same real estate agent who listed the owner’s house. He claimed to be interested in buying the house, but when a sales contract was prepared, told the agent he wouldn’t purchase.

The general counsel for the bank from which the owner had obtained a mortgage was notified a tenant occupied the property. She thought the lease the tenant presented was legitimate and filed a motion with the circuit court to possess the property. At that point, she noticed that the lease term began after foreclosure had already started and let the court know. She thought the owner and defendant had a fraudulent scheme against the bank. Continue reading

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In a recent case, the defendant was driving with five others when they came upon a man who was standing in the middle of the road. They swerved to avoid hitting him. The defendant and another passenger came back to the man, who seemed to be drunk. The man came up to the defendant and tried to hug him; the defendant almost knocked him into a car that was passing by.

The other passenger hit the drunken man in the face knocking him into the street. Then the defendant and passenger drove off. A car came by and ran over the drunken man, killing him. The reckless endangerment count was filed using statutory “short form.” This means that it didn’t state the factual basis for the crime.

Accordingly, the defendant asked the State to give him a “bill of particulars” that specified what in the defendant’s conduct constituted reckless endangerment, what the defendant had done to act recklessly, what the defendant had done to create a substantial risk of death or serious injury, and what facts showed the defendant had disregarded this risk. Continue reading

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In a recent case, the appellate court looked at questions of mental competency in the case of a criminal conviction. The case arose from the defendant’s alleged stabbing and killing of an adult male. The victim, who was dying of cancer and who had been recently beaten on an earlier occasion, was discovered by a friend who occasionally checked on him.

The victim’s home was ransacked and the dresser drawer where he kept medication was toppled. The friend called the police from the nearby grocery store. The owner of the store explained that on the night of the stabbing, the defendant came into the store with a note from the victim letting him purchase beer on the arrangement between the victim and the store.

Other testimony against the defendant came from his friend and his mother. The defendant’s friend said that the defendant wanted to rob the victim in order to steal his pills. The defendant’s mother claimed that the defendant said he hurt the victim because the victim said something bad about her. Continue reading

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The Fourth Amendment protects people against unlawful searches and seizures. Usually, a warrant is required for a search. Often a criminal defense attorney is able to prevent evidence against his client from coming in, if he can show that the evidence was obtained through an unlawful search or seizure. However, there are exceptions, such as when a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a crime is being committed in a car, searches the car and finds evidence that a crime was committed.

In a recent case, a woman pled guilty to possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. The case arose when a law enforcement officer was dispatched to a grocery store. He had been called to that store on multiple occasions previously to deal with a white woman who loitered in front of the store. The store believed she was a prostitute.

The officer had learned from the woman that she was a prior heroin user that had been clean for about a year. He served her with a cease and desist order that prohibited her loitering in that location and others. Continue reading

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When the State of Maryland tracks a vehicle with a GPS device attached to the exterior of a car in order to watch its movements, is that considered a “search” under the Fourth Amendment? A recent case that arose from the GPS tracking of a defendant’s car answered that question.

In the case, police officers asked officers in the Repeat Offender Proactive Enforcement Section (ROPE) to help them conduct surveillance on the defendant who they believed was involved in some commercial burglaries.

The GPS tracker used by ROPE had a cell phone piece and a GPS piece, which communicated to determine the latitude and longitude of where a unit was located. A battery that didn’t interfere with vehicle operation operated the device. It was activated before the installation and stored location data in its memory. Police could access the historical data as well as display location in real time. Continue reading

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In a recent case, the petitioner was convicted of multiple counts of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and use of a handgun, among other things. He was sentenced to imprisonment plus 170 years.

The case arose when two men were shot and killed. There were several witnesses who testified on behalf of the State. Before his trial, one witness was sentenced to probation for charges of attempting to distribute an illegal substance. He was also charged with possession of a firearm and sentenced to six months. He was given some leniency in his jail stay because he was scheduled to testify at the petitioner’s trial.

Before trial, the State asked that the petitioner not be able to question any of its witnesses regarding prior arrests. The defense objected on the grounds that one of the witnesses had an agreement for leniency. The State claimed there was no plea and the witness had asked for a release because he was a witness to his brother’s murder and was frightened during his jail stay. The court agreed with the State that it was a safety issue. Continue reading

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If you are a noncitizen immigrant, you should be aware that there may be adverse immigration consequences, such as deportation, for pleading guilty or being convicted of a crime in Maryland and other states. In a recent appellate case, a native of Belize who was a permanent resident in the United States pled guilty to cocaine possession with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

During his sentencing, the defendant was informed that he had the right to appeal his conviction. He did not appeal, nor did he file a petition for post-conviction relief, and served out his five-year sentence.

Afterward, he traveled to Belize and was detained when he tried to reenter the United States. The United States Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) started a deportation proceeding against him. To delay deportation, he filed a Petition for a Writ of Error Coram Nobis. He claimed in the petition that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary because his attorney had not advised him of possible immigration consequences of his plea. Continue reading

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In a recent case, the defendant tore up a copy of his probation papers after his criminal trial. He was on trial for second-degree assault after hitting and kicking his girlfriend during an argument. After the guilty verdict, the girlfriend claimed financial hardship and said she wanted to be left alone. The defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison with most of it suspended, plus three years probation.

He was given a probation order with standard conditions, including obeying all laws. A week later, the State petitioned to revoke his probation. The State based its request for revocation on ripping up his probation papers and making loud threatening statements about witnesses like, “She don’t know it, but she just signed her death warrant.”

The trial court revoked the defendant’s probation, finding him in contempt for ripping up the papers and making threats. An intermediate appellate court held that the ruling wasn’t clearly erroneous. The controlling statute did not require the threats be made directly to a witness or victim. Continue reading

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People in Maryland and elsewhere are often curious about how realistic television shows involving lawyers are. How television affects jurors and trials, however, is less often explored. One phenomenon in the latter category, the “CSI effect” has led to some interesting scholarship and legal rulings over the past decade.

The “CSI effect” allegedly occurs in response to the television show, leading jurors to expect they will be given forensic evidence such as DNA during a criminal trial. In earlier cases, the appellate court addressed whether or not it was appropriate to give an instruction to counter the CSI effect (an “anti-CSI effect instruction”).

In a recent case the trial judge instructed the jury that there was no legal requirement that the prosecution use a specific type of investigative or scientific technique to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He also noted that the defense argued there was no scientific link connecting the defendant to the crime. Continue reading

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In Maryland, it is illegal to obstruct or hinder a law enforcement officer trying to perform his duties. There are three kinds of obstruction: direct obstruction (physical resistance), passive direct obstruction (refusal to act as required), and positive indirect obstruction (where police officer are acting against other citizens and a citizen not involved prevents their ability to prevent or detect crime).

In a 2011 obstruction case, a motorcyclist and friend were traveling parallel in the southbound lane. Someone from the sheriff’s department saw one of them cross the double yellow line several times. He initiated a stop and ran the vehicle information to get the motorcycle’s registration information. He discovered the motorcycle belonged to someone named Titus. The motorcyclist presented him with a driver’s license from another state and a name different from Titus.

At some point the sheriff found Titus’s license had been suspended and revoked. The person driving the vehicle claimed that Titus was his roommate and he borrowed the vehicle. The sheriff smelled alcohol on his breath and saw his eyes were glassy. He asked the motorcyclist what he’d been doing that evening. The motorcyclist claimed he drank two beers earlier. A Standardized Field Sobriety Test was performed. The motorcyclist claimed to have bad ankles, but agreed to the test. Continue reading

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