SCHEDULE OF ORAL ARGUMENTS
September Term, 2021
Monday, November 1, 2021:
No. 13 Marlon Koushall v. State of Maryland
Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Where a conviction for misconduct in office is based on the corrupt doing of an unlawful act, does the conviction for the “unlawful act” merge with the conviction for misconduct in office for sentencing purposes? 2) Was there sufficient evidence to support Petitioner’s convictions for assault in the second degree and misconduct in office?
Attorneys for Petitioner: Kristin C. Tracy and Thomas M. Donnelly
Attorney for Respondent: Sarah Page Pritzlaff
No. 19 Broadway Services, Inc. v. Comptroller of Maryland
Issues – Tax-General – 1) Where tangible personal property is purchased by an intermediary contractor for the use of a non-profit charitable institution in carrying on its exempt purpose, are those purchases exempt from Maryland sales and use tax in light of John McShain, Inc. v. Comptroller, 252 Md. 68 (1953) under Md. Code § 11-204 of the Tax-General Article? 2) Were the Maryland Tax Court’s factual findings supported by substantial evidence such that the purchases in question are exempt from Maryland sales and use tax?
Attorney for Petitioner: Alexander H. Bushel
Attorney for Respondent: Benjamin M. Grossman
No. 15 State of Maryland v. Kirk Matthews
Issue – Criminal Law – Did CSA err by holding that an expert witness created an “analytical gap,” and thus rendered her testimony inadmissible as a matter of law, by acknowledging the limitations of her scientific methodology?
Attorney for Petitioner: Peter R. Naugle
Attorney for Respondent: Helki Philipsen
Monday, November 8, 2021:
AG No. 51 (2020 T.) Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Keith M. Bonner
Attorney for Petitioner: Lydia E. Lawless
Attorney for Respondent: Courtney Miller
No. 14 Mario Ernesto Amaya, et al. v. DGS Construction, LLC, et al.
Issues – Labor & Employment – 1) Do the Maryland Wage and Hour Law (“MWHL”), Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (“MWPCL”), and COMAR adopt and incorporate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), federal Portal-to-Portal Act (“PPA”), and Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”) sections where the Maryland statutes, regulations, and legislative history never adopted or incorporated them? 2) Is the definition of “work” under the MWHL, MWPCL, and COMAR limited to what is considered “compensable work” under the PPA, despite the Maryland General Assembly and regulators never incorporating the federal laws or otherwise saying so? 3) Does a “worksite” or “prescribed workplace” under COMAR 09.12.41.10 include a location that an employer directs its employees to report?
Attorney for Petitioner: Steven M. Pavsner
Attorney for Respondent: Stephen M. Silvestri
No. 17 Juan Carlos Terrones Rojas, et al. v. F.R. General Contractors, Inc., et al.
Issues – Labor & Employment – 1) Do the Maryland Wage and Hour Law (“MWHL”), Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (“MWPCL”), and COMAR adopt and incorporate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), federal Portal-to-Portal Act (“PPA”), and Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”) sections where the Maryland statutes, regulations, and legislative history never adopted or incorporated them? 2) Is the definition of “work” under the MWHL, MWPCL, and COMAR limited to what is considered “compensable work” under the PPA, despite the Maryland General Assembly and regulators never incorporating the federal laws or otherwise saying so? 3) Does a “worksite” or “prescribed workplace” under COMAR 09.12.41.10 include a location that an employer directs its employees to report? 4) Did CSA err in importing the federal PPA compensability requirements in determining whether a benefit was conferred on Respondents for the purpose of proving a Maryland common law unjust enrichment claim, especially when Respondents failed to move for judgment on that claim?
Attorney for Petitioner: Levi S. Zaslow
Attorney for Respondent: Michael J. Jack
Tuesday, November 9, 2021:
No. 21 Amit Kumar v. State of Maryland
Issues – Criminal Law – 1) Does the holding of Kazadi v. State, 467 Md. 1 (2020), apply to all litigants who preserved the issue and whose cases were not yet final when the Kazadi opinion was issued, regardless of whether they had filed a notice of appeal by that date? 2) Did CSA violate Petitioner’s constitutional right to equal protection by applying different law to Petitioner’s case as compared to other similarly situated litigants?
Attorney for Petitioner: Eva Shell
Attorney for Respondent: Jer Welter
No. 18 Traci Spiegel, et al. v. Board of Education of Howard County
Issues – Education – 1) Does the Maryland Constitution prevent minors 11 years of age and older from selecting a member holding a binding voting position on the Howard County Board of Education, whether by election, appointment, or any other means? 2) Does the Maryland Constitution prevent minors from holding the office of a binding voting position on the Board of Education of Howard County, a board which possesses general governmental power?
Attorney for Appellant: Anthony M. Conti
Attorney for Appellee: Jonathan L. Backer
No. 20 Linda A. Sanders v. Board of Education of Harford County, et al.
Issue – Workers’ Compensation – Is a denial of a Request to Reopen/Modify filed with the Worker’s Compensation Commission pursuant to Md. Code § 9-736(b) of the Labor & Employment Article subject to judicial review?
Attorneys for Petitioner: Bruce Bender and Michael J. Foley
Attorneys for Respondent: David A. Skomba and Angela Garcia Kozlowski
SUZANNE C. JOHNSON
CLERK
Pursuant to the August 6, 2021 Third Amended Administrative Order Expanding Statewide Judiciary Operations in light of the COVID-19 Emergency and the June 18, 2018 Administrative order on the Implementation of Remote Electronic Participation in Judicial Proceedings, and the October 22, 2021 Seventh Administrative Order on Remote Oral Arguments, the Court will hear oral arguments in these cases by videoconferencing.