March 2022 Maryland Certiorari Grant, with an Update on Redistricting Cases

The Maryland Court of Appeals today granted certiorari in one case, a criminal appeal.

In other news, the Court of Appeals yesterday issued a per curiam order, with an opinion to come later this term, striking down a district map that the George’s County Council had adopted. Today, the Court of Appeals announced that, on March 22, the trial will begin before the special magistrate, Senior Judge Alan Wilner, on challenges to the statewide redistricting maps adopted this year by the General Assembly.

The one certiorari grant is below:

Antonio McGhee v. State of Maryland – Case No. 64, September Term, 2021
(Unreported CSA Opinion by Judge James Eyler)

Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Do Charles v. State, 414 Md. 726 (2010), Atkins v. State, 421 Md. 434 (2011), and Stabb v. State, 423 Md. 454 (2011), which concern the propriety of CSI-effect voir dire questions and jury instructions, apply to cases that became final before those decisions issued? 2) Did Petitioner’s trial counsel render ineffective assistance of counsel when at Petitioner’s 2007 trial, she failed to object to a CSI-effect voir dire question?