June 2020 Maryland Certiorari Grants

Today the Court of Appeals of Maryland granted certiorari in two cases, both on petitions by the State in criminal cases.

State of Maryland v. Karen Cambpell McGagh – Case No. 12, September Term, 2020
(Unreported COSA Opinion by Zarnoch, J.)

Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Did CSA err when, citing First Amendment and policy-based concerns, it applied a non-deferential, de novo standard of review to the legal sufficiency of the evidence to sustain Respondent’s convictions for perjury and false statement? 2) Did CSA err in finding the evidence insufficient to show willful and knowing falsity, and in finding that one wittness’s testimony corroborated by surveillance video was insufficient to satisfy the “two-witness rule” for perjury? 3) Was the evidence legally insufficient to support Respondent’s convictions for perjury and/or false statement because the evidence failed to show that the statements were material?

State of Maryland v. Nathan Joseph Johnson – Case No. 13, September Term, 2020
(Reported COSA Opinion by Nazarian, J.)

Issue – Criminal Law – Did CSA err in denying Petitioner’s motion to reconsider and remand because the trial court is entitled to reconfigure the sentencing package to account for the reversal of Respondent’s involuntary manslaughter conviction regardless of the reason for reversal?