Why Maryland Appellate Courts Should Send Focus Letters Before Oral Arguments
Appellate practitioners continuously debate the relative value of oral argument. Although most practitioners—and many appellate judges—agree that the quality of appellate briefing matters much more than the quality of oral advocacy, opinions vary considerably on how much oral argument helps. Some contend that oral argument is more trouble than it is worth. Others disagree, believing that oral argument not only often separates winning and losing on appeal but also increases everyone’s faith in the justice system. Both sides of the debate have some good points; I won’t try to declare a winner here.
One fact beyond debate is that federal appellate courts are holding significantly fewer oral arguments. Read More…
Maryland Certiorari Statistics, September Term 2017
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
I’m often asked what percentage of certiorari petitions the Maryland Court of Appeals grants. Each year, the Maryland Judiciary publishes a statistical abstract. The most recent report includes this table:
I’ve begun reviewing the Court’s petition docket to get more details. Read More…
COSA Spotlight: Judge Andrea Leahy
By Steve Klepper and Diane Feuerherd
Continuing our series profiling members of the Court of Special Appeals, we interviewed Judge Andrea Leahy, one of the eight At-Large Judges of our intermediate appellate court, in her chambers on Rowe Boulevard in Annapolis.
COSA addresses whether heroin distribution can support a conviction for involuntary manslaughter
Across the country, opioid use has reached epidemic proportions with often tragic results. Maryland is no different from the rest of America. To battle this deadly plague, many prosecutors are charging drug dealers with homicide when customers die from overdoses caused by the drugs sold by the dealers. And again, many Maryland prosecutors are pursuing that same strategy by lodging homicide charges against dealers. These efforts have earned media attention, as seen in articles such as Alison Knezevich, Maryland Prosecutors Pursue Manslaughter, Murder in Overdose Cases, Baltimore Sun (December 7, 2017), https://perma.cc/UJY8-QZZN; Arelis R. Hernandez, Selling Opioids in this Rural Maryland County Could Get You a Murder Charge, Washington Post (August 9, 2017), http://perma.cc/4N8D-ZF4Y; Al Baker, New Tactic in War on Opioids: Charging Dealers in Overdose Deaths, New York Times (July 23, 2017), https://nyti.ms/2tRsvTv.
Those three articles are cited in Maryland’s first reported appellate decision dealing with this issue, Patrick Joseph Thomas a/k/a Patrick Joseph Patrick v. State, No. 1115, Sept. Term, 2016 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. April 4, 2018). Read More…
June 2018 Maryland Certiorari Grants
On Friday, the Maryland Court of Appeals granted certiorari in three criminal cases and two civil cases. The grants are below. Read More…
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