Highlighted Cases

Media Resource Center
News Releases

Case Misc. No. 34 - September Term, 2022
Posthumous Admission to the Bar of Maryland of Edward Garrison Draper
Special Session to be held Thursday, October 26, 2023. 

04-04-2023: Order on Motion for Special Admission
03-31-2023: Motion for Special Admission
03-27-2023: Petition for The Posthumous Admission to the Bar of Maryland of Edward Garrison Draper

 

Case No. 7 - September Term, 2023
Adnan Syed v. Young Lee, as Victim's Representative, and State of Maryland
Oral arguments to be held Thursday, October 5, 2023. 

Issues – Criminal Procedure – 1) Does a lawfully entered nolle prosequi render moot an appeal alleging procedural violations at a hearing occurring prior to the nolle prosequi? 2) Does a victim’s representative, a non-party to a case, have the right to attend a vacatur hearing in-person or does remote attendance satisfy the right? 3) Was notice to the victim’s representative of the vacatur hearing sufficient where the State complied with all statutory and rules-based notice requirements? 4) Must a victim’s representative seeking reversal show prejudice on appeal? 5) Is a victim’s right to speak incorporated into the Vacatur Statute, Md. Code § 8-301.1 of the Criminal Procedure Article, where no party or entity other than the victim has an interest in challenging the evidence alleged to support vacatur?

09-27-2023: Security/Media Protocol Order
09-25-2023: Denial Order on Motion to Strike Argument
09-22-2023: Petitioner's Reply Brief and Cross-Respondent's Brief
09-08-2023: Consent to file Brief of Survivors of Violence Clinic as Amicus Curiae
09-08-2023: Brief of Survivors of Violence Clinic as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner
09-05-2023: Mr. Lee's Response to Petitioner's Motion to Strike
09-01-2023: Motion to Strike Argument II(D) of the Brief of Respondent State of Maryland
09-01-2023: Grant Order on Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Pro Hac Vice
09-01-2023: Grant Order on Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Pro Hac Vice
08-30-2023: Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Pro Hac Vice
08-28-2023: Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Pro Hac Vice
08-28-2023: Amicus Curiae Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Petitioner
08-28-2023: Grant Order on Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Pro Hac Vice
08-28-2023: Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Pro Hac Vice
08-28-2023: Brief of Amicus Curiae The National Crime Victime Law Institute
08-28-2023: Brief of Respondent/Cross-Petitioner
08-28-2023: Grant Order on the Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Under Rule 19-217
08-28-2023: Brief of Respondent, the State of Maryland
08-28-2023: Brief of Exonerees As Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner
08-28-2023: Brief of Amicus Curiae Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center
08-28-2023: Motion for Special Admission of Out-of-State Attorney Under Rule 19-217
08-15-2023: Joint Supplemental Record Extract (Redacted)
08-10-2023: Grant Order on Unopposed Motion to Permit Filing of a Supplemental Record Extract
08-02-2023: Petitioner's Brief
08-02-2023: Unopposed Motion to Permit Filing of a Supplemental Record Extract
06-28-2023: Grant Order and Writ of Certiorari
06-28-2023: Second Order on Motion to Stay
06-21-2023: Answer to Cross-Petition
06-13-2023: State's Answer to Petition and Cross-Petition
06-08-2023: Cross-Petition for Writ of Certiorari
05-25-2023: Order on Motion to Stay Issuance of Appellate Court's Mandate
05-24-2023: Petition for Writ of Certiorari
05-24-2023: Unopposed Motion to Stay Issuance of Appellate Court's Mandate

 

Case No. 21 - September Term, 2022
In re: Petition for Emergency Remedy by the Maryland State Board of Elections
Oral arguments held Friday, October 7, 2022 [Oral Arguments]

Issues – Election Law – 1) Did the trial court correctly rule that the remedy sought under Md. Code § 8-103(b)(1) of the Election Law (“E.L.”)article comports with the principle of separation of powers because the remedy, an adjustment to the electoral calendar, is a function routinely entrusted to the judicial branch? 2) Did the trial court correctly rule that the incoming volume of mail-in ballots and inadequate time frame in which to process them constitute “emergency circumstances” that “interfere with the electoral process” as those terms are used in E.L. § 8-103(b)(1)?

03-29-2023: Opinion
10-07-2022: Per Curiam Order
10-06-2022: Appellant's Reply Brief
10-06-2022: Response Brief of Appellee
10-04-2022: Brief and Appendix of Appellee
10-04-2022: Appellant's Brief
10-04-2022: Record Extract
09-29-2022: Grant Order and Writ of Certiorari
09-29-2022: Respondent Answer to Petition for Writ of Certiorari
09-28-2022: Petition
09-28-2022: Petition Appendix

 

 

Case No. 65 - September Term, 2021
Linda H. Lamone, et al. v. Kathryn Szeliga, et al.; Linda H. Lamone, et al. v. Neil Parrott, et al.
Case No. 66 - September Term, 2021
Linda H. Lamone, et al. v. Kathryn Szeliga, et al.

04-04-2022: Dismissal Order
04-04-2022: Notice of Dismissal of Cross-Appeal
04-04-2022: Notice of Dismissal of Appeal
04-01-2022: Order

 

 

 

 

Misc. No. 21 - September Term 2021
2022 Legislative Districting of the State
Scheduling Conference webcast Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. [Scheduling Conference]
Evidentiary Hearing Before the Special Magistrate held Wednesday, March 23, 2022 [Part 1, Part 2]
Evidentiary Hearing Before the Special Magistrate continued Thursday, March 24 at 9:30 a.m. [Hearing]
Oral Arguments heard Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. [Misc. No. 25] [Misc. No. 26] [Misc. No. 27]

08-31-2022: Opinion
04-25-2022: Grant Order on Motion to Modify Order to Extend Time for Withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy 
04-13-2022: Order
04-04-2022: Legislative Districting Exceptions and Oral Argument Scheduling Order
04-04-2022: Report of the Special Magistrate (with exhibits)
03-15-2022: Order Amending Election Dates
03-11-2022: Amended Order of the Special Magistrate Regarding Discovery
03-10-2022: Order of the Special Magistrate Regarding Discovery
03-09-2022: Grant Order on Joint Consent Motion for Modification of Interim Scheduling Order No. 1
03-08-2022: Joint Consent Motion for Modification of Interim Scheduling Order No. 1
02-24-2022: Interim Scheduling Order No. 2 of the Special Magistrate
02-18-2022: Interim Scheduling Order No. 1 of the Special Magistrate
02-11-2022: Consolidation Order
02-07-2022: Scheduling Conference Order
02-03-2022: Amended 2022 Legislative Districting Scheduling Order
01-28-2022: 2022 Legislative Districting Scheduling Order (obsolete)
01-28-2022: Motion to Promulgate Procedures

Misc. No. 24, September Term, 2021
Petition to Review Redistricting of David Whitney

08-31-2022: Opinion
04-25-2022: Grant Order on Motion to Modify Order to Extend Time for Withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy 
03-23-2022: Joint Stipulations of Fact
03-22-2022: Respondent's Proposed Findings of Fact and Applicable Legal Standards
03-02-2022: Response to Renewed Motion to Dismiss
02-22-2022: Renewed Motion to Dismiss
02-18-2022: Amended Petition
02-15-2022: Motion to Dismiss
02-09-2022: Petition to Review Redistricting

Misc. No. 25, September Term, 2021
Petition of Mark N. Fisher, Nicholaus R. Kipke, and Kathryn Szeliga

08-31-2022: Opinion
04-25-2022: Grant Order on Motion to Modify Order to Extend Time for Withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy 
04-11-2022: Memorandum from the State Regarding the Upcoming Primary Election
04-11-2022: Affidavit of Donna Duncan in Support of the Memorandum Regarding the Upcoming Primary Election
04-11-2022: State of Maryland's Response to the Exceptions to the Report of the Special Magistrate
04-08-2022: Petitioners' Exceptions to the Report of the Special Magistrate
04-06-2022: Order Granting Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Petitioners
03-24-2022: Respondent's Exhibits X, Y, Z, AE and AF
03-24-2022: Plaintiff's Exhibit 20
03-23-2022: Plaintiff's Exhibits
03-23-2022: Respondent's Exhibits A through K (updated to include Exhibit K)
03-23-2022: Joint Stipulations of Fact
03-22-2022: Petitioner's Proposed Findings of Fact, Proposed Governing Legal Standards, and Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
03-22-2022: Respondent's Proposed Findings of Fact and Applicable Legal Standards
03-14-2022: Brief of Amici Curiae Bipartisan Former Governors
03-14-2022: Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Petitioners
02-15-2022: Motion to Dismiss
02-15-2022: Order
02-15-2022: Motion For Extension of Time
02-09-2022: Petition to Review Redistricting

Misc. No. 26, September Term, 2021
Petition of Brenda Thiam, Wayne Hartman, and Patricia Shoemaker

08-31-2022: Opinion
04-25-2022: Grant Order on Motion to Modify Order to Extend Time for Withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy 
04-25-2022: Motion to Modify Order to Extend Time for Withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy
04-11-2022: Memorandum from the State Regarding the Upcoming Primary Election
04-11-2022: Affidavit of Donna Duncan in Support of the Memorandum Regarding the Upcoming Primary Election
04-11-2022: State of Maryland's Response to the Exceptions to the Report of the Special Magistrate
04-08-2022: Petitioners' Exceptions to the Report of the Special Magistrate and Memorandum in Support Thereof 
03-23-2022: Joint Stipulations of Fact
03-22-2022: Petitioner's Memorandum of Law and Response to Motion to Dismiss
03-22-2022: Respondent's Proposed Findings of Fact and Applicable Legal Standards
02-15-2022: Motion to Dismiss
02-09-2022: Petition Regarding 2022 Legislative Redistricting

Misc. No. 27, September Term, 2021
Petition of Seth Edward Wilson

08-31-2022: Opinion
04-25-2022: Grant Order on Motion to Modify Order to Extend Time for Withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy 
04-11-2022: Memorandum from the State Regarding the Upcoming Primary Election
04-11-2022: Affidavit of Donna Duncan in Support of the Memorandum Regarding the Upcoming Primary Election
04-11-2022: State of Maryland's Response to the Exceptions to the Report of the Special Magistrate
04-08-2022: Petitioner's Exception to the Report of the Special Magistrate
03-22-2022: Respondent's Proposed Findings of Fact and Applicable Legal Standards
02-15-2022: Motion to Dismiss
02-15-2022: Amended Petition for Review and Request for Relief
02-09-2022: Petition for Review and Request for Relief

 

 

No. 45 - September Term, 2021
Dawnta Harris v. State of Maryland
Oral arguments to be heard Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. [Oral Arguments]


Issues – Criminal Law – 1) As a matter of first impression, is a common law felony murder an unintended homicide that, if perpetrated by the operation of a motor vehicle, has been preempted by the manslaughter by automobile statute, thereby precluding the common law offense from serving as a basis for a crime in Maryland? 2) Did CSA err in holding that a juvenile offender who is convicted of felony murder, and who is sentenced to a term of life with the possibility of parole, is not entitled to a constitutionally-heightened sentencing procedure to include consideration of the juvenile’s youth, the attendant circumstances, and penological justifications for a life sentence upon a juvenile for an unintentional killing?

06-08-2022: Opinion
02-22-2022: Reply Brief of Petitioner
02-01-2022: Brief of Respondent
02-01-2022: Brief of Amicus Curiae Human Rights for Kids in Support of Petitioner (Filed with Consent of All Parties)
01-03-2022: Record Extract volume 1 of 3
01-03-2022: Record Extract volume 2 of 3
01-03-2022: Redacted Record Extract volume 3 of 3
01-03-2022: Redacted Opening Brief of Petitioner
11-10-2021: Petition for Writ of Certiorari Granted
09-28-2021: Respondent's Answer to Petition for Writ of Certiorari
09-14-2021: Petition for Writ of Certiorari

 

 

No. 29 - September Term, 2021
Lee Boyd Malvo v. State of Maryland
Oral arguments to be heard February 8, 2022. [Oral Arguments]


Issues – Constitutional Law – 1) Under Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), which barred life without parole “for all but the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility,” Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.Ct. 718, 734 (2016), do the six life without parole sentences imposed on Petitioner violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and/or Article 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights? 2) Does Miller apply to Maryland’s sentencing scheme, which gives the sentencing court discretion to impose life without parole? 3) Did the sentencing court violate Miller by failing to consider Petitioner’s youth and imposing life without parole for crimes which did not reflect permanent incorrigibility? 4) Did the sentencing court violate Article 25 by imposing life without parole without finding beyond a reasonable doubt that Petitioner was permanently incorrigible? 5) Does Article 25 categorically bar life without parole sentences for juveniles? 6) Did the trial court err in ruling that the life without parole sentences imposed on Petitioner are not “illegal” under Maryland Rule 4-345(a)?

08-26-2022: Opinion
01-31-2022: Appellant's Reply Brief
12-21-2021: Grant Order on Unopposed Motion to Postpone Oral Arguments
12-14-2021: OAG Letter of Clarification to the Joint Stipulation of Facts
12-07-2021: Brief for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant
12-07-2021: Brief of Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner Lee Boyd Malvo
12-06-2021: Brief of Appellee
12-02-2021: Amici Brief of the the Juvenile Law Center, the Charles Hamilton Houston institute for Race and Justice, the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at the N.Y.U. School of Law, the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality; and the Sentencing project as Amici Curiae in Support of Appellant Lee Boyd Malvo.
11-23-2021: Joint Stipulation of Facts
11-22-2021: Amicus Brief of Crime Victim's Representative Nelson Rivera
10-27-2021: Joint Record Extract
10-27-2021: Appellant's Brief
08-25-2021: Petition for Writ of Certiorari Granted (Second Corrected Order)
06-14-2021: Answer to Supplement to Pre-Judgment Petition for Writ of Certiorari
06-01-2021: Supplement to Pre-Judgment Petition for Writ of Certiorari
06-22-2018: Petitioner's Notice of Supplemental Authority
02-12-2019: Victim Representative's Answer (treated as Amicus Curiae brief)
02-06-2018: Answer to Pre-Judgment Petition for Writ of Certiorari
01-25-2018: Pre-Judgment Petition for Writ of Certiorari

 

No. 24 - September Term, 2018
State of Maryland v. Adnan Syed
Oral arguments to be heard November 29, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. [Oral Arguments: Normal Quality   Higher Quality]


Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Did CSA err in holding that defense counsel pursuing an alibi strategy without speaking to one specific potential witness violates the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of effective assistance of counsel? 2) Did CSA draw itself into conflict with Curtis v. State, 284 Md. 132 (1978), when it found that Respondent waived his ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on trial counsel’s failure to challenge cell-tower location data, where the claim implicated the fundamental right to effective counsel and was therefore subject to the statutory requirement of knowing and intelligent waiver?

04-19-2019 Order on Motion for Reconsideration
04-08-2019: Respondent/Cross-Petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration
03-08-2019: Opinion of the Court of Appeals
11-19-2018: Reply Brief of Respondent/Cross-Petitioner
10-23-2018: Reply Brief of Petitioner/Cross-Respondent
09-21-2018: Joint Record Extract Volume II of II
09-21-2018: Joint Record Extract Volume I of II, part 2
09-21-2018: Joint Record Extract Volume I of II, part 1
09-21-2018: Errata Sheet to Amended Brief of Petitioner
09-21-2018: Amended Brief of Petitioner
09-20-2018: Brief of Amici Curiae
09-20-2018: Brief of Respondent/Cross-Petitioner
08-21-2018: Appendix to Brief of Petitioner
08-21-2018: Brief of Petitioner
07-12-2018: Petition for Writ of Certiorari and Conditional Cross-Petition both granted
06-18-2018: Reply to Answer in Opposition to Petition for Writ of Certiorari with Conditional Cross-Petition
05-29-2018: Answer in Opposition to Petition for Writ of Certiorari with Conditional Cross-Petition
05-05-2018: Petition for Writ of Certiorari