Maryland Certiorari Grants, February 2014
The Court of Appeals of Maryland granted certiorari in three cases on Friday. The cases, with questions presented, are below.
Granted February 21, 2014
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1300 and David A. McClure v. William T. Lovelace, Jr.– Case No. 25, September Term, 2014
Issue – Labor & Employment – Is an internal union remedy “inadequate” under Md. common law if it does not allow for the monetary damages that the plaintiff seeks in court?
Joseph F. Cunningham, et al. v. Matthew Feinberg– Case No. 27, September Term, 2014
Issues – Labor & Employment – 1) Does application of the Md. choice of law principle of lex loci contractus preclude a claim under the Md. Wage Payment and Collection Law (MD. Code Ann. Lab. & Empl. § 3-501 et seq. (“MWPCL”))? 2) Does proper application of lex loci contractus preclude respondent’s MWPCL claim?
Dennis J. Kelly, Jr. v. George W. Duvall, Jr., et al.– Case No. 26, September Term, 2014
Issues – Estates & Trusts – 1) Did the lower court err in construing the Will in a manner inconsistent with Md. Code Ann. Estates & Trusts § 4-401 and finding that it imposed survivorship as a condition precedent to inheritance under the Will? 2) Did the lower court err in construing the Will as demonstrating the Testatrix’s contrary intent sufficient to overcome the presumption that § 4-403 (2013) (the “anti-lapse” statute) applies?
State Seeks Reversal of DeWolfe II: What Do You Think?
Yesterday, the State filed its opening brief in Ben C. Clyburn et al. v. Quinton Richmond et al., No. 105, Sept. Term 2013. Clyburn v. Richmond addresses the injunction entered by the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to implement DeWolfe II, which found a state constitutional right to counsel at initial appearances. The State has asked the Court of Appeals to reverse DeWolfe II. The State’s summary of that argument (from pages 27 through 29 of the brief) is pasted below. We’d love for our readers to start a conversation on both the substance and the form of that argument. Click here or go down to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this post. Read More…
January 2014 Certiorari Grants
On Friday, January 24, the Court of Appeals granted certiorari in four cases. Below are the four cases, with questions presented, as they appear on the Court’s website:
Granted January 24, 2013
Bernard Delaney McCree, Jr. v. State of Maryland– Case No. 20, September Term, 2014
Issue – Criminal Law – Is the trademark counterfeiting statute, Md. Code, Crim. Law Art. § 8-611 (2012 Repl. Vol.), unconstitutional because it is overbroad and/or void-for-vagueness?
Dominik Oglesby v. State of Maryland– Case No. 23, September Term, 2014
Issue – Criminal Law – Pursuant to the rule of lenity, was Appellant required to be sentenced for possession of a firearm pursuant to Crim. Law Art., § 5-622, one of the two statutes punishing the conduct for which he was sentenced, because it prescribed a more lenient sentence than that mandated by the statute, Public Safety Art., § 5-133, under which he was sentenced?
People’s Insurance Counsel Division v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, et al.– Case No. 21, September Term, 2014
Issues – Insurance Law – 1) Should this Court reexamine Maryland common law on construing insurance contracts and, recognizing that such contracts are not the product of equal bargaining, hold that terms contained in an insurance policy must be strictly construed against the insurer? 2) Did the Commissioner err in allowing State Farm to deny coverage for damage to a collapsed carport under a policy that insured against “the sudden, entire collapse of a building” based on a restrictive definition of the term “building” that does not appear in the insurance policy or any other written document, and is based only on oral instructions given to a catastrophe claims adjuster when she was dispatched to handle claims following a severe snowstorm?
William Siam Simpson, III v. State of Maryland– Case No. 22, September Term, 2014
Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Does the State violate a criminal defendant’s rights under the Fifth Amendment and Article 22 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights when a prosecutor repeatedly and over objection assures the jury in opening statement that the defendant “will tell you” that he committed the alleged offenses? 2) Does a trial court commit reversible error when it allows the State to offer opinion testimony from a law enforcement officer concerning his canine partner’s alleged detection of an accelerant without requiring the State to name the officer as an expert prior to trial or to qualify the officer as an expert at trial? 3) Did CSA err in holding that a police officer may not testify as to the significance of an accelerant-detecting dog’s actions unless that officer is first qualified and accepted as an expert pursuant to Md. Rule 5-702?
December 2013 Certiorari Grants, Including 2 New DNA Cases
By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)
On December 20, 2013, the Court of Appeals of Maryland granted certiorari in seven cases. All seven cases have been set for argument during the term beginning September 2014.
The first two listed cases include interesting variations on the Maryland DNA Collection Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in Maryland v. King, 133 S. Ct. 1 (2012). Two criminal defendants now want to use DNA matches to point the finger at other potential culprits. Read More…
November 2013 Certiorari Grants
The Court of Appeals of Maryland granted certiorari in 12 cases on Friday, November 22, 2013. Consistent its new policy of deciding all cases in the same term in which they were argued, the Court designated 11 of the 12 cases for the Court’s September 2014 Term. The one case assigned to the present September 2013 Term involves issues similar to a certified question that the Court has designated for argument in May 2013. Read More…
Court of Appeals of Maryland: October 2013 Cert Grants
On October 18, 2013, the Court of Appeals granted certiorari in eight cases. Its website lists a ninth case where, on October 21, 2013, the Court of Appeals, by per curiam opinion, summarily granted certiorari, vacated the decision below, and remanded to the Court of Special Appeals for further review.
The October 18, 2013 order identifies the questions presented in the eight cases set for merits review: Read More…
Certiorari Grants, September 20, 2013
From the Court of Appeals website:
Granted September 20, 2013
Sonia Carter, et al. v. The Wallace & Gale Asbestos Settlement Trust – Case No. 84, September Term, 2013
Issues – Torts – 1) Did CSA err in its decisions that the trial court should have admitted the testimony and opinion of Respondent’s expert and should have instructed the jury on apportionment of damages? 2) Did CSA err in its conclusion that the use plaintiffs were required to join the action with a formal pleading and are now barred by the statute of limitations? Read More…
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