May 2016 Maryland Certiorari Grants
The Court of Appeals of Maryland has posted its certiorari grants from its May 19 conference. This month’s list is unusually heavy on civil cases, with only one criminal appeal compared to four civil appeals. Perhaps most notably, Seley-Radtke v. Hosmane addresses the burden of proof in defamation actions brought by private individuals. The full list appears after the jump. Read More…
Non-Mutual Collateral Estoppel: A Shield, but Now Clearly Also a Sword
Last summer, I reviewed the decision of the Court of Appeals in Shader v. Hampton Improvement Ass’n, Inc., 443 Md. 148 (2015), and the decision of the Court of Special Appeals in Garrity v. Maryland State Bd. of Plumbing, 221 Md. App. 78 (2015), and posed the following question: In addition to being used defensively as a shield, may non-mutual collateral estoppel be used offensively as a sword? In Garrity, the Court of Special Appeals had embraced the use of offensive non-mutual collateral estoppel, at least in the context of successive proceedings brought by separate administrative agencies. But I noted that the Court of Appeals on a number of occasions had neither embraced nor rejected offensive use of the doctrine, and, in Shader, had skirted the question, holding that the case did not require an answer to it. I suggested that the issue needed to make its way back to our highest court so that the Court could have the final word on the subject. Having granted certiorari in Garrity, the Court of Appeals a few weeks ago issued an opinion permitting offensive non-mutual collateral estoppel.
Do not overestimate the exceptions to the exhaustion of administrative remedies
When evaluating a new case, the focus often relates to the merits of the claim: Is your client credible? Are there witnesses who can corroborate your client’s position? Are there documents that substantiate the claim? What legal theories apply? Has the statute of limitations run yet?
All of these elements play a significant role in advising a client and deciding to pursue the case. When handling matters before administrative agencies, however, it also is essential to consider the hierarchy of remedies that are available. Some administrative remedies must be pursued before filing a complaint in court, while others may proceed concurrently or without affecting other legal processes. Knowing where to go first can be tricky, as two police officers learned the hard way.
Yes, appeal options matter in state District Court
By John Grimm
One of the challenges of a criminal practice in the Maryland District Court is deciding how best to position your client for appeal. A typical day in the District Court can be a busy, if not hectic, affair, requiring lawyers to wrangle witnesses, work out plea deals, examine discovery, and, not uncommonly, meet and interview their clients for the first time. Although it can be hard to devote attention to preserving appellate issues, or even thinking about appellate strategy, the District Court’s unique jurisdictional status presents both appellate risks and benefits, and, during your trial preparation, it’s worth giving a little thought to what you’d want your criminal appeal to look like.
COSA Dissent Watch: Defining a “Collection Agency”
[Dissents in the Court of Special Appeals are, as we’ve noted here before, an infrequent thing — but quite useful. Many times, disagreement in the intermediate court portends consideration and resolution by the Court of Appeals, or highlights thorny issues that appellate practitioners can take up in future cases. In this new feature, the Blog tracks and analyzes split decisions at the Court of Special Appeals.]
The case: Old Republic Ins. Co. v. Gordon, No. 1020 (Sept. Term 2014)
The question: Did the circuit court err in its construction of the phrase “collection agency” under BR § 7-101(c)?
The facts: Old Republic Insurance Company sold Countrywide Home Loans a “credit insurance policy,” pursuant to which Old Republic would pay for losses caused by defaults in loans held by Countrywide; in return, Countrywide would subrogate its rights of recovery to Old Republic. Countrywide submitted a claim for Nancy Gordon’s default on her approximately $70,000 loan, and Old Republic paid it. Old Republic then exercised its subrogation rights to pursue repayment.
The company filed suit in circuit court and moved for summary judgment. Ms. Gordon opposed the motion on the grounds that, under Maryland law, Old Republic was barred from bringing its claims because it was acting as a collection agency subject to the Maryland Collection Agency Licensing Act but wasn’t licensed to do so. The court agreed and granted summary judgment to Ms. Gordon.
Rationales on the way for per curiam orders in the cases of officers charged in death of Freddie Gray
By Michael Wein
On March 8, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued two per curiam orders, found here and here, in the cases of the police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray — yet the reasons underlying the orders (which permitted the State to have Officer William Porter testify, prior to his own retrial, against all his fellow officers) remain a mystery. As reported in various media outlets, that became a problem for the trial judge last week when, based on the per curiam orders, he granted the State’s request to have another officer testify as a witness before his trial. The defense counsels reserved the right to reargue the matter after the high court provided its rationales for the orders.
Five Nominated to Maryland Court of Appeals
A little more than a month after nine applied for Judge Battaglia’s seat on the Court of Appeals, the pool has been whittled to five nominations. Unsurprisingly, the only sitting Court of Special Appeals judge, the Hon. Kathryn Grill Graeff, got a golden ticket, as did the Hon. Donald E. Beachley of the Washington County Circuit Court, a former magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Two private practitioners are in the mix as well: Thomas Edward Lynch, III, a principal at Miles & Stockbridge, and Andrew David Levy, a partner at Brown Goldstein Levy and co-author of Appellate Practice for the Maryland Lawyer.
April 2016 Maryland Certiorari Grants
The Court of Appeals of Maryland has posted its certiorari grants from yesterday’s conference. The biggest news is that the Court will review the decision of the Court of Special Appeals holding that, under the Supreme Court’s decision in Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Motor Vehicle Administration properly rejected a “MIERDA” vanity plate. Alan Sternstein’s December post criticizing the Court of Special Appeals decision is here.
The full list of grants, with questions presented, appears after the jump. Read More…
“Hailstorm” decision could create turbulence for tracking tactics
By John Grimm
Guest contributor
Last month, the Court of Special Appeals handed down a major Fourth Amendment decision, holding that police need a warrant to use “cell site simulators” to track people’s locations through their mobile phones. State v. Andrews, No. 1496, Md. Ct. Spec. App. (March 30, 2016), involved the warrant-less use of the portable tracking device — also called an “IMSI catcher” and better known by various brand names including “StingRay” or “Hailstorm” — which mimics cellular network towers and causes all cell phones in its range to send a signal with the phone’s unique “international mobile subscriber identity,” or “IMSI,” number. With that number, police can measure the direction and relative strength of the phone’s signal to determine the phone’s location in real time. Because “people have a reasonable expectation that their cell phones will not be used as real-time tracking devices by law enforcement” and “an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in real-time cell phone location information,” Slip Op. at 2, the court found that use of cell site simulators to track phones is a Fourth Amendment search, and “the government may not use a cell phone simulator without a warrant or, alternatively, a specialized order that requires a particularized showing of probable cause, based on sufficient information about the technology involved to allow a court to contour reasonable limitations on the scope and manner of the search, and that provides adequate protections in case any third-party cell phone information might be unintentionally intercepted,” id. at 64.
Supreme Court split delays resolution of dues question
As we await the appointment of a successor to the empty seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, one of the early casualties of a tie vote has already occurred. Many public employers and employees had their eyes on a recent case involving the California Teachers Association, because its outcome had the potential to alter the relationship between public employees and their union representatives that has existed since the 1970s. Instead of a scintillating analysis by the Court, a tie vote yielded only a one-line order that left the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals intact along with the existing precedent from the 1970s and 1980s. See Friedrichs v. California Teachers Ass’n, No. 14-915.
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