Justia Maryland Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In the second year following each Federal decennial census, the Maryland Constitution provides that the Governor and State Legislature shall reapportion the State's legislative representation in accordance with the State's current demographics. At issue before the Court of Appeals in this case was the validity of Maryland's most recently enacted legislative apportionment plan. Three petitions challenging the enacted plan were filed. After a hearing, a Court of Appeals' Special Master denied each petitioner's petition and issued his recommendation that the enacted legislative apportionment plan be upheld against each of the challenges. The Court of Appeals supported the order of the Special Master, holding that Petitioners' exceptions to the Special Master's findings and recommendations were without merit. View "In re 2012 Legislative Districting of the State" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of multiple counts of second degree murder and other crimes. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that the trial court erred in prohibiting Petitioner's cross-examination of a State's witness regarding the witness' expectation of leniency in a separate pending case should he testify against Petitioner but that the error was harmless. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding (1) the trial court erred in limiting Petitioner's cross-examination of the witness with regard to his expectation of leniency; and (2) contrary to the conclusion of the intermediate appellate court, the effect of that error was not harmless to the result of the trial. View "Dionas v. State" on Justia Law

Father filed a complaint for absolute divorce from Mother and sought sole physical and legal custody of the parties' two children. Before the merits hearing on Father's divorce petition, the circuit court ordered that a custody investigation report (the Report) be completed. Counsel's access to the Report was limited by the "Policy Regarding Distribution of Court Ordered Evaluative Reports" (the Policy), which the trial court relied upon to prevent Mother's counsel from receiving a copy of the Report. The trial court subsequently granted Father's petition for divorce and awarded him sole legal and physical custody of the children. Mother appealed, arguing that the Policy afforded her inadequate procedural protection. The court of special appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by applying the Policy to procedural matters that required the court to exercise its discretion, and this error presumptively prejudiced Mother. Remanded. View "Sumpter v. Sumpter" on Justia Law

Petitioner was convicted of second degree assault and sentenced to ten years in prison and three months probation. After Petitioner was sentenced, he tore up a copy of his probation papers while seated next to the exit door in the courtroom. Subsequently, while walking down a hall outside the courtroom, Petitioner threatened in front of a law enforcement officer to harm a witness/victim. The trial court revoked Petitioner's probation, determining that, through his actions, Petitioner committed direct criminal contempt of court and violated Md. Code Ann. Crim. Law 9-303(a), the retaliation statute. The court of special appeals affirmed. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) section 9-303(a) does not require communicating a threat to a victim/witness or a belief that the threat may be communicated to the victim/witness, and in this case, Petitioner committed a threat within the meaning of the statute; and (2) the record did not support a finding that Petitioner was in direct contempt of court when he tore up his personal copy of the probation papers following his sentencing. Remanded. View "Hammonds v. State" on Justia Law

In completing their affidavits to an election referendum petition, two affiants provided partially incorrect zip code information. Both circulators' petition pages contained several thousand signatures of registered voters. Despite the incorrect zip codes in the circulator affidavits, the Montgomery County Board of Elections (MCBE) certified that 34,828 of the 48,935 signatures were those of registered voters of Montgomery County, more signatures than were required by law, and certified the bill for placement on the ballot of the November 2012 general election. Seeking to prevent the referendum, Montgomery County filed a complaint against the MCBE, alleging that the MCBE had unlawfully counted the voters' signatures on the circulation petition pages because the zip codes provided by the circulators were erroneous. The circuit court granted Respondents' motion for summary judgment, concluding that the petition pages containing circulators' incorrectly recorded zip codes were invalid. The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's ruling and upheld the MCBE's decision, holding that minor errors in the circulator affidavit will not invalidate petition signatures that are already certified by the appropriate administrative body. View "Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 v. Montgomery County" on Justia Law

BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., a commercial wholesale retail center, offered a free supervised play area called the "Incredible Kids' Club" for children to use while their parents shopped. To use the Kids' Club, BJ's required parents to sign an agreement containing an exculpatory clause and an indemnification clause. Russell Rosen executed the agreement on behalf of his three minor children. Rosen's son, Ephraim, was allegedly injured in the Kids' Club. Rosen and his wife (the Rosens) filed a negligence action against BJ's, and BJ's filed a counterclaim against the Rosens alleging breach of contract for failing to indemnify, defend, and hold BJ's harmless pursuant to the indemnification clause. The circuit court granted summary judgment for BJ's. The court of special appeals struck down the exculpation and indemnification clauses and reversed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the court of special appeals erred by invoking the State's parens patriae authority to invalidate the exculpatory clause in the Kids' Club agreement. Remanded. View "BJ's Wholesale Club v. Rosen" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit first degree burglary. The court of special appeals affirmed the conviction. At issue before the Court of Appeals was whether the trial court committed reversible error in giving an "anti-CSI effect" instruction to the jury after defense counsel remarked in opening statement that no scientific evidence existed linking Defendant to the crimes for which he was charged. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding (1) an "anti-CSI effect" instruction, limited only to curative administration, shall not be entertained without legal and empirical proof that a "CSI effect" exists, and is only triggered when a material misstatement of law occurs; and (2) the trial court erred in this case by giving the contested instruction. Remanded for a new trial. View "Robinson v. State" on Justia Law

After Petitioner sold certain properties, he used the proceeds to purchase fractional interests in commercial office buildings. The fractional interests were called Tenants in Common Interests (TICs), and each of the TICs was promoted by a company called DBSI, Inc. DBSI later filed a petition for bankruptcy, and the properties underlying Petitioner's TICs became the subject of foreclosure proceedings. The bankruptcy court determined that many of DBSI's transactions were fraudulent. Petitioner filed a complaint against Cassidy Turley Maryland (Defendant), under whose advice Petitioner acted in purchasing the TICs, alleging that Defendant failed to disclose material facts regarding the investment. The circuit court granted summary judgment for Defendant. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) Petitioner's investment in this case was a "security" for purposes of the Maryland Securities Act; (2) the circuit court erred in determining that Petitioner's claims under the Act relating to fraud and misrepresentation by Defendant were barred by limitations; (3) the court erred in concluding that Petitioner's common law tort claims were time-barred as a matter of law; and (4) the court did not err in deciding to reserve judgment on the admissibility of a bankruptcy examiner's report until it had further information. View "Mathews v. Cassidy Turley Md., Inc." on Justia Law

These two consolidated appeals concerned two appellants who separately sued the Housing Authority for Baltimore County (HABC) for negligence and violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act (CPA) for injuries arising out of Appellants' alleged exposure to lead paint in properties that HABC owned and operated. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of HABC, finding that Appellants in both cases did not substantially comply with the notice requirement of the Local Government Tort Claims Act (LGTCA). The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the circuit court properly concluded that Appellants did not substantially comply with the LGTCA notice requirement; (2) the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Appellants did not show good cause for their failure to comply with the LGTCA notice requirement; and (3) the LGTCA notice requirement, as applied to a minor plaintiff in a lead paint action against HABC, does not violate Article 19 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. View "Ellis v. Housing Auth of Baltimore County" on Justia Law

Petitioner filed a complaint against multiple defendants alleging negligence and violations of Maryland's Consumer Protection Act (CPA) for injuries resulting from his exposure to lead-based paint when he lived at two properties in Baltimore City while he was an infant. At the close of discovery, Defendants filed several dispositive and evidentiary motions, which the trial court granted. The court of special appeals affirmed. At issue before the Court of Appeals was the exclusion of a lead test report, the exclusion of testimony by Petitioner's medical expert, and the grant of summary judgment as to Petitioner's CPA cause of action. The Court of Appeals reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding (1) the court of special appeals erred in holding that the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in excluding the lead test report and the testimony by Petitioner's medical expert; and (2) the court of special appeals did not err in affirming the circuit court's grant of summary judgment as to Petitioner's cause of action under the CPA. Remanded. View "Butler v. S&S P'ship" on Justia Law