Granted August 10, 2012

Dennis Whitley III, et al. v. Maryland State Board of Elections - Case No. 133, September Term, 2011

Issues - Election Law - 1) Does allowing a circulator of a referendum petition to attest to his or her own signature violate the requirement of Md. Const., Art XVI § 4 that each petition must have attached "an affidavit of the person procuring those signatures that the signatures were affixed in his presence;" and/or the requirement of Md. Code Ann., Elec. Law § 6-204(a) that the affidavit be "made and executed by the individual in whose presence all of the signatures on that page were affixed and who observed each of those signatures being affixed"? 2) Does allowing a petition sponsor's computer program to pre-fill the signer's identifying information on the petition form violate the requirement of Md. Code Ann., Elec. Law § 6-203(a) that the individual signer shall "include" that information and/or the requirement of the State Board's regulation, COMAR § 33.06.03.06B(1) that the signer shall "[p]rovide" such information?

Granted August 20, 2012

A&E North, LLC v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore - Case No. 40, September Term, 2012

Issues - Real Property - 1) Does hardship entitle a condemnee to payment of relocation benefits before resolution of a challenge to the condemning authority's right to acquire the subject property? 2) Does a prejudicial jury view of the condemned property entitle a condemnee to a new trial? 3) Is CSA's new standard to determine whether a condemnee is a displaced person under the Relocation and Assistance Act contrary to the plain language and legislative intent of the act? 4) Did CSA err in confusing the concepts of hardship and prejudice and, as a result, misconstrue this Court's holding in Bern-Shaw v. Baltimore (377 Md. 277)? 5) Is a property owner required to pursue and exhaust the administrative process pertaining to issuance of a relocation payment?

Jorge Appraicio v. State of Maryland - Case No. 49, September Term, 2012

Issue - Criminal Law - Did the trial court err in answering a question from the jury about the lack of a police report and police testimony in evidence and the weight they should give to its absence by responding that they were to decide the case based on "what is in evidence", thereby potentially stopping the jury from considering the lack of that evidence in reaching its verdict?

Board of Directors of Cameron Grove Condominium, II, et al. v. State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations - Case No. 47, September Term, 2012

Issues - Administrative Law - 1) Whether the Agency's Appeal Board erred by requiring that Petitioners show evidence that thieves and vandals had gained illegal entry to the building before it could prohibit keys from being distributed to doors which were not secure? 2) Whether CSA correctly ruled that the Agency's Appeal Board had performed the balancing test required by MD's reasonable accommodation statute? 3) Whether the Agency's Appeal Board erred by ignoring the county Planning Board's Specific Design Plan, which required that a security system be installed on the doors in question?

Cohen & Greene, P.A. v. Joan Frances DiCarlo - Case No. 41, September Term, 2012

Issues - Courts and Judicial Proceedings - 1) Where counsel is discharged without cause on a contingency fee personal injury case, should counsel be immediately entitled to pursue quantum meruit damages? 2) If counsel is required to await the outcome of the contingency case, in the event there is no recovery on the personal injury case, is counsel entitled to quantum meruit damages if a subsequent legal malpractice case against successor counsel results in an award to the client?

Orville Cooper v. State of Maryland - Case No. 37, September Term, 2012

Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Did the trial court err in allowing an expert witness to testify regarding the report of another expert who did not testify at trial in violation of the rules against the admission of hearsay? 2) Did the trial court err in allowing the non-testifying expert's report into evidence in violation of appellants constitutional right of confrontation? 3) Did the trial court err in allowing the non-testifying expert's report into evidence without a proper foundation in the form of a demonstrated chain of custody of the evidence tested? 4) Did the trial court err in admitting other prejudicial hearsay?

Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Angela Brock - Case No. 55, September Term, 2012

Issue - Statutory Law - Whether an entity in possession of a promissory note indorsed in blank – the most common type of indorsement for thousands of notes owned by mortgaged-backed security trusts – is not a holder and is merely a non-holder in possession, in conflict with Title 3 of the Maryland UCC & a misinterpretation of Anderson v. Burson, 424 Md. 232 (2011)?

William S. Dize v. Association of Maryland Pilots - Case No. 56, September Term, 2012

Issues - Labor & Employment - 1) Whether CSA's interpretation of a threshold requirement for seaman status under the federal Jones Act has placed Maryland in conflict with with US Supreme Court precedent? 2) Whether the trial court applied an overly restrictive standard to the issue of whether Petitioner had a "connection to Respondent's fleet of vessels in navigation", thereby excluding Petitioner's time spent performing duties such as maintenance work on the fleet?

Falls Road Community Ass'n, Inc., et al. v. Baltimore County, Maryland, et al. - Case No. 39, September Term, 2012

Issues - County Government - 1) Can a writ of mandamus lie to compel the executive branch of county government to enforce the unequivocal terms of an adjudicatory order of that county's board of appeals, or does the county have discretion to refuse to enforce an order of the board of appeals? 2) When the executive branch of county government violates an order of its board of appeals, does a writ of mandamus lie to compel the county to remedy that violation? 3) Must administrative remedies be primary, and must they be pursued and exhausted, when those remedies would be futile because the county itself violated the law? 4) Is the ability to seek supplementary relief under CJ, §3-412 sufficient to meet the requirement in a declaratory judgment action that the requested declaration serve to terminate the controversy giving rise to the action? 5) Is coercive or injunctive relief available under the MD Declaratory Judgment Act? 6) Whether the trial court properly exercised its discretion in refusing to grant a declaratory judgment for petitioners after finding that declaratory judgment would not terminate the controversy between the parties because a) Petitioners sought a declaration that the repaving of the parking lot was illegal; b) there was no basis to order the tenant to deconstruct the parking lot, since its landlord (Baltimore County) ordered the repaving; and c) Baltimore County could not be ordered to remove the repaving, as it was not subject to a writ of mandamus? 7) Whether Petitioners were entitled to seek a declaratory judgment from the trial court without first pursuing the special statutory remedies available to them for enforcement of zoning orders and regulations? 8) Whether the circuit court was legally correct in granting Respondents' motions for summary judgment on Petitioners' claims for mandamus relief on the ground that the duties imposed on Baltimore County are discretionary in nature? 9) Whether the circuit court abused its discretion in entering judgment for Respondents on Petitioners' claim for declaratory relief on the grounds that such relief would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy giving rise to this action and that coercive or injunctive relief is not available under the MD Declaratory Judgment Act. 10) Whether the Petitioners' claims for declaratory injunctive and mandamus relief should have been dismissed for failure to exhaust available administrative remedies?

Darnell Fields v. State of Maryland - Case No. 53, Sept. Term, 2012

Issues - Criminal Law - 1) Does the former testimony exception to the hearsay rule bar the admission of prior testimony by a witness who, subsequent to providing the testimony, was convicted of perjury? 2) Did CSA err in holding that trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to move for the admission of prior testimony under the former testimony exception or, in the alternative, that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to propound a missing witness instruction? 3) Where an internal affairs investigator for police found "facts sustained" against officers, did the trial court err in refusing to permit the defense to inspect internal investigation division files concerning misconduct by the officers and, at trial, refusing to allow the defense to cross-examine the officers about the misconduct?

Michael David Gordon v. State of Maryland - Case No. 43, September Term, 2012

Issues - Criminal Law - 1) Whether, and if so, under what circumstances, an individual who presents a driver's license in response to a request for identification by law enforcement manifests an adoption or belief in the truth of information contained in the license for purposes of the hearsay exception for adoptive admissions set forth at Maryland Rule 5-803(a)(2)? 2) Was the detective's testimony regarding the date of birth on Petitioner's driver's license admissible under the public record hearsay exception set forth at Maryland Rule 5-803(b)(8)? 3) Did Petitioner waive his challenge to the admissibility of the testimony under the public records exception?

In Re: Adoption of Sean M. - Case No. 54, September Term, 2012

Issues - Family Law - 1) Whether a natural parent's failure to file a timely objection to a proposed independent adoption, as directed in a show cause order, constitutes an irrevocable consent to the adoption? 2) Whether the statutory scheme resulting in an irrevocable deemed consent to an independent adoption offends the due process rights of the parent?

Felix L. Johnson, deceased v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore - Case No. 45, September Term, 2012

Issue - Workers' Compensation - Whether a remedial statute that is amended by the General Assembly while a litigant has a pending claim with the Workers' Compensation Commission should apply to the pending claim?

Ashley Jones v. Erie Insurance Company - Case No. 38, September Term, 2012

Issues - Insurance Law - 1) Whether the Erie policy of insurance issued to plaintiff validly excluded uninsured motorist coverage for an accident caused by an all-terrain vehicle? 2) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint to add a defendant recently discovered to have insurance coverage, where defendant Erie had knowledge of the coverage, and no trial date had been set?

Paul F. Kendall, et al. v. Howard County, Maryland - Case No. 50, September Term, 2012

Issues - Election Law - 1) Did the trial court err in holding that the alleged denial by County officials of Petitioners' constitutional and statutory rights to referendum and petition did not provide the "particularized harm" or "concrete injury" necessary to give Petitioners standing to bring suit? 2) Did the trial court err in dismissing the case because Appellants had failed to join necessary parties?

Constantine Koste v. Town of Oxford, et al. - Case No. 42, September Term, 2012

Issue - Election Law - May signatures on a petition for referendum under Md. Code Ann. Article 23A, §19(g) be counted if obtained after publication of the notice of the annexation resolution but before enactment of the unmodified resolution?

Maryland Economic Development Corporation v. Montgomery County, Maryland - Case No. 44, September Term, 2012

Issue - Taxation - Does the statutory exemption of the MD Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) from "any requirement to pay taxes or assessments on its activities" apply to recordation taxes on deeds of trust granted by MEDCO as part of an economic development project?

William H. Mathews v. W.C. Pinkard & Co., Inc., etc., et al. - Case No. 51, September Term, 2012

Issues - Corporations &Associations - 1) Did the trial court err in failing to apply either MD Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-203 or MD's discovery rule, which govern when a cause of action accrues, to Appellant's claims for violations of the MD Securities Act? 2) Did the trial court err in determining that the financial transactions at issue did not satisfy the MD Securities Act's definition of an "investment contract"? 3) Did the trial court err in its dismissal of Appellant's common law claims, including fraud and misrepresentation, because it failed to properly apply MD Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-203 and/or MD's discovery rule?

Joan J. Stickley v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company - Case No. 48, September Term, 2012

Issues - Insurance Law - 1) Did CSA err in concluding that Ins. Code § 19-504.1 does not apply to excess of umbrella policies? 2) Whether a personal liability umbrella policy that includes motor vehicle liability insurance constitutes "private passenger motor vehicle liability insurance" as contemplated by Ins. Code § 19-504.1?

Anthony Tyler v. State of Maryland - No. 52, September Term, 2012

Issues - Criminal Law - 1) Did the lower court correctly conclude that Petitioner waived his claim of a Rule 4-246(b) violation, and that because his jury trial waiver was made knowingly & voluntarily, the lack of an express finding to that effect by the trial court constituted harmless error?

Jeffrey Robert Valonis v. State of Maryland - No. 46, September Term, 2012

Issues - Criminal Law - 1) Did the trial court's statement "We note the waiver of the right to trial by jury" satisfy the requirements of Rule 4-246(b) that before accepting a waiver of jury trial the trial court determine and announce on the record that the waiver was knowing and voluntary? 2) If not, did Petitioner waive his claim about the trial court's announcement by failing to object, or, in the alternative, was the error harmless?

William J. Warr, Jr., et al. v. JMGM Group, LLC, d/b/a Dogfish Head Alehouse - Case No. 57, September Term, 2012

Issue - Torts - Whether this Court should recognize dram shop liability?