Petitions for Writ of Certiorari - August, 2021

PETITIONS FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI

September Term, 2020

 

 

Denied August 2, 2021

Adcor Industries v. Beretta U.S.A. - Pet. Docket No. 103 *
Anderson, Kedar v. State - Pet. Docket No. 92 *
Calhoun-El, James v. State - Pet. Docket No. 125 *
Crowner, Davon v. State - Pet. Docket No. 121 *
Facey v. Facey - Pet. Docket No. 62 *
Gibson, Rahim v. State - Pet. Docket No. 94 *
Haines v. Vogel - Pet. Docket No. 114 *
Hargett, Kim, Sr. v. State - Pet. Docket No. 77 *
Henderson, Dante v. State - Pet. Docket No. 75 *
Henneghan v. Johnson - Pet. Docket No. 108 *
Jones v. Vilkoski - Pet. Docket No. 43 *
Legends Sales & Marketing v. Arena Ventures - Pet. Docket No. 99 *
Little, Matthew A. v. State - Pet. Docket No. 112 *
Maizel v. Comptroller - Pet. Docket No. 97 *
Mason, Philip v. State - Pet. Docket No. 100 *
Osowiecki v. Frazier - Pet. Docket No. 104 *
Rivera-Martinez, Carlos v. State - Pet. Docket No. 111 *
State v. Auble, Robert Lee - Pet. Docket No. 405
State v. Foster, Marquis Elloss Lang - Pet. Docket No. 339 
State v. Garcia-Ortiz, Carlos - Pet. Docket No. 313
State v. Gravenor, Kevin Lee - Pet. Docket No. 468
State v. Holmes, Marco - Pet. Docket No. 456
State v. Johnson, Nijah D. - Pet. Docket No. 28 *
State v. Lucas, William Lee - Pet. Docket No. 109*
State v. Perry, Melsun Shamel - Pet. Docket No. 377
State v. Rather, Christopher - Pet. Docket No. 426
State v. Ringgold, Jesse James - Pet. Docket No. 35 *
State v. Smith, Raoul Jermar - Pet. Docket No. 45 *
State v. Stokes, Aubrey - Pet. Docket No. 436
State v. Thompson, Andre - Pet. Docket No. 79 *
State v. Williams, Furl John - Pet. Docket No. 88 *
Taylor, Jeffrey v. State - Pet. Docket No. 96 *
Terfassa v. Wright - Pet. Docket No. 102 *
The Haimish Group v. WAMCO - Pet. Docket No. 95 * 
Thuraisingham v. Chesapeake Land Holdings - Pet. Docket No. 93 *
Titus, John Richard v. State - Pet. Docket No. 106 *
Turner, Willard C. v. State - Pet. Docket No. 124 *
Warfield, Brandon v. State - Pet. Docket No. 116 *
Waters, Brian v. State - Pet. Docket No. 119 *
Wiegmann v. Ford Motor Credit Co. - Pet. Docket No. 472



* 2021 Term

 

 

Granted August 3, 2021

Brigido Lopez-Villa v. State of Maryland - Case No. 22, September Term, 2021

Issues – Criminal Law – Where Petitioner submitted a written request for said voir dire questions and the trial court “reviewed” the questions and ruled that it was “not inclined to ask” them “because the Court will instruct on those areas of law,” did CSA err in holding that Petitioner “failed to preserve his objection to the court’s refusal to read his proposed voir dire questions,” because he “failed to ask or tell the court that he objected to the failure to ask those specific questions,” and because when, at the end of voir dire, the trial court inquired, “[d]id I miss any questions…what you previously objected to, which I will preserve for the record,” counsel responded “no”?

State of Maryland v. Latoya Jordan - Case No. 22, September Term, 2021

Issues – Criminal Law – Is it harmless error to fail to propound a voir dire question regarding a defendant’s right to remain silent and not testify where the defendant actually testifies?

 

 

Denied August 19, 2021

McMillan v. Leahy - Pet. Docket No. 207 *



* 2021 Term

 

 

Granted August 25, 2021

Arthur Becker, et al. v. Falls Road Community Association, et al. - Case No. 24, September Term, 2021

Issue – Zoning & Planning – In order for collateral estoppel to bar a subsequently filed development plan, must the two plans be found to be identical?

Maryland Small MS4 Coalition, et al. v. Maryland Department of the Environment - Case No. 25, September Term, 2021

Issues – Environmental Law – 1) Has Maryland Department of the Environment (“MDE”) unlawfully made the Queen Anne’s County (“County”) responsible for the discharges from independent third parties and nonpoint source runoff that do not discharge from the County’s MS4? 3) Has MDE unlawfully imposed requirements beyond the maximum extent practicable in the General Permit?

Kenyatta M. Smith v. State of Maryland - Case No. 26, September Term, 2021

Issues – Criminal Law – 1) When a petitioner satisfies the substantive requirements for receiving coram nobis relief – i.e., they have exhausted all other available remedies, have proven that the convictions they are challenging suffer from constitutional or other fundamental error, and have established that the challenged convictions create a significant collateral consequence – to what extent does the petitioner still need to show that there are “compelling circumstances” warranting relief? 2) Where Petitioner met the established prerequisites for obtaining coram nobis relief, did the circuit court err in ruling that, under dicta in Coleman v. State, 219 Md.App. 339 (2014), there are not “compelling circumstances” to vacate Petitioner’s convictions because, inter alia, the legislative purpose behind the creation of Petitioner’s significant collateral consequence (i.e., her inability to obtain a license as a mortgage originator) takes precedence?

In Re D.D. - Case No. 27, September Term, 2021

Issue – Criminal Law – 1) Does the scent of marijuana provide reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop to determine if someone possesses a criminal amount of marijuana or could be cited for civil violations of marijuana laws? 2) Assuming, arguendo, that the stop was constitutional, was the frisk unlawful because the police lacked reasonable suspicion to believe that Respondent was armed and dangerous?

Thornton Mellon LLC v. Adrianne Dennis Exempt Trust - Case No. 28, September Term, 2021

Issues – Tax-Property – 1) Can “impeded redemption,” a doctrine created by the trial court and upheld by the CSA, be employed in tax sale cases as a basis to dismiss timely-filed complaints to foreclose rights of redemption and deny statutory attorneys’ fees where Md. Code § 14-829 of the Tax-Property (“TP”) Article specifically provides a redemption procedure when the amount in redemption is in dispute after a complaint is filed? 2) Can a property owner who fails to redeem a property for six months after a tax sale avoid owing additional statutory attorneys’ fees under the impeded redemption doctrine without proving they had the ability to redeem the property prior to the filing of the complaint to foreclose right of redemptions? 3) Is a tax sale purchaser, after waiting the requisite six months after a tax sale, required to delay filing a complaint to foreclose right of redemption if the owner of the property states an intent to redeem the property? 4) Can a tax sale purchaser be deemed to have filed a complaint to foreclose right of redemption “prematurely” if the complaint is filed more than the requisite six months after the tax sale? 5) Was CSA correct to find that the trial court committed no errors in dismissing Petitioner’s complaint and denying its requests for attorneys’ fees based on the impeded redemption doctrine, where Respondent failed to attempt to redeem the property in accordance with TP § 14-829, conceded that she was aware of her ability to redeem the property minutes after paying fees to Petitioner, and otherwise did not provide any evidence of her ability to redeem prior to Petitioner filing its complaint? 6) Was CSA correct to find that the trial court acted within its discretion in denying Petitioner’s motions for extraordinary attorneys’ fees, when the trial court did not review the requests for fees on the merits and denied them solely on the basis that they flowed from Petitioner’s “premature” complaint?

Lee Boyd Malvo v. State of Maryland - Case No. 29, September Term, 2021

Issues – Constitutional Law – 1) Under Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), which barred life without parole “for all but the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility,” Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.Ct. 718, 734 (2016), do the six life without parole sentences imposed on Petitioner violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and/or Article 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights? 2) Does Miller apply to Maryland’s sentencing scheme, which gives the sentencing court discretion to impose life without parole? 3) Did the sentencing court violate Miller by failing to consider Petitioner’s youth and imposing life without parole for crimes which did not reflect permanent incorrigibility? 4) Did the sentencing court violate Article 25 by imposing life without parole without finding beyond a reasonable doubt that Petitioner was permanently incorrigible? 5) Does Article 25 categorically bar life without parole sentences for juveniles? 6) Did the trial court err in ruling that the life without parole sentences imposed on Petitioner are not “illegal” under Maryland Rule 4-345(a)?

Seth D. Jedlicka v. State of Maryland - Case No. 30, September Term, 2021

Issues – Constitutional Law – 1) How should a sentencing court evaluate where on the McCullough “spectrum,” Carter v. State, 461 Md. 295 (2018), a juvenile offender falls, and how does that analysis determine what term-of-years sentence or period of parole ineligibility is too long to comport with the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 60 (2012), and Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S.Ct. 718 (2016)? 2) What is the scope of the individualized sentencing requirement for juveniles who have committed homicide and did the lower court err in upholding Petitioner’s concurrent 60 year aggregate term and life suspend all but 60 years sentences, imposed without an individualized sentencing proceeding? (Issues updated 10/22/2021.)

Michael Farmer v. State of Maryland - Case No. 31, September Term, 2021

Issues – Constitutional Law – 1) As part of a juvenile lifer’s constitutional right to a meaningful opportunity to obtain release based upon demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation, as recognized in Carter v. State, 461 Md. 295 (2018), does a juvenile lifer have a federal constitutional right to state-furnished counsel in proceedings before the Maryland Parole Commission? 2) As part of a juvenile lifer’s constitutional right to a meaningful opportunity to obtain release based upon demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation, as recognized in Carter, does a juvenile lifer have a Maryland constitutional right to state-furnished counsel in proceedings before the Maryland Parole Commission? 3) Assuming a juvenile lifer has a constitutional right to state-furnished counsel in proceedings before the Maryland Parole Commission, does that Maryland Parole system allow for the effective exercise of that right? 4) Is Petitioner’s sentence illegal pursuant to Maryland Rule 4-345(a)?

 

 

Denied August 26, 2021

Agabu v. Lyons Mill Partnership - Pet. Docket No. 53 *
Allen, Hayden v. State - Pet. Docket No. 155 *
Bolden, Jabari v. State - Pet. Docket No. 110 *
Burke v. Md. Board of Physicians - Pet. Docket No. 138 *
Carey v. Kingsport Community Ass'n - Pet. Docket No. 129 *
Carter v. Charles Cnty. - Pet. Docket No. 147 *
Carter, Mausean v. State - Pet. Docket No. 158 *
Davis v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. - Pet. Docket No. 127 *
Drakes v. Glover Group Investments - Pet. Docket No. 142 *
Gibson, Terrell v. State - Pet. Docket No. 319
Green v. Reeder-Green - Pet. Docket No. 80 *
Gross v. Ward - Pet. Docket No. 143 *
Henderson v. Henderson - Pet. Docket No. 126 *
Hollingsworth, Mark v. State - Pet. Docket No. 141 *
In the Matter of Sims - Pet. Docket No. 160 *
James, Eugene Alexander v. State - Pet. Docket No. 145 *
Martin v. Off. of State's Atty for Balt. City - Pet. Docket No. 76 *
Miles v. Brother International Corp. - Pet. Docket No. 144 *
Mims v. Six Flags America - Pet. Docket No. 133 *
Morris, Earl v. State - Pet. Docket No. 27 *
Owens, Antonio Ka'Juan v. State - Pet. Docket No. 134 *
Parker, Sylvester Elijah, II v. State - Pet. Docket No. 139 *
Pitts, Rodney v. State - Pet. Docket No. 132 *
Rivas-Chang, Mervin v. State - Pet. Docket No. 117 *
Sayles, Karon v. State - Pet. Docket No. 135 *
Shortall v. Thornton - Pet. Docket No. 149 *
Simms, Joseph E. v. State - Pet. Docket No. 152 *
Wheeler, De'Marko v. State - Pet. Docket No. 131 *
White, Sheldon Duke, III v. State - Pet. Docket No. 151 * 
Williams v. Dept. of Pub. Safety & Corr. Servs. - Pet. Docket No. 107 *
Younger, Kevin v. State - Pet. Docket No. 130 *




* 2021 Term