Maryland Court of Appeals Decisions 2013
Date: December 30, 2013
Docket Number: 15/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged with various offenses, including reckless endangerment. Because the indictment did not set out the elements of the charged offense or the factual basis for that offense, Petitioner requested that…
Date: December 30, 2013
Docket Number: 21/13
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondents filed a complaint for accounting against Petitioner, their employer, after a dispute over the terms of their employment agreement. In response, Petitioner filed a petition to compel arbitration, asserting…
Date: December 23, 2013
Docket Number: 25/13
Justia Opinion Summary: In two cases, Montgomery County took a portion of properties owned by Respondents. Because the parties disputed the value paid for either taking the County filed a complaint for condemnation. During the proceedings, the…
Date: December 23, 2013
Docket Number: 26/13
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged in two cases with second-degree burglary, theft, and malicious destruction of property. Petitioner moved to suppress all evidence obtained as the result of law enforcement's global positioning…
Date: December 23, 2013
Docket Number: 73/12
Justia Opinion Summary: A state trooper pulled over Respondent's vehicle for failing to obey a traffic control device. When the trooper approached the vehicle, he detected a "moderate odor" of an alcoholic beverage on Respondent's breath. The…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 32/13
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was assigned the serving rights to Plaintiff's mortgage on a piece of property. Plaintiff sued Defendant, claiming that Defendant attempted to collect more than was due on the loan. The parties settled.…
Date: December 19, 2013
Docket Number: 22/13
Justia Opinion Summary: A county-owned police patrol vehicle was damaged in a single-car collision while Respondent, a county police officer, operated the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The County, a self-insured entity, filed a…
Date: December 19, 2013
Docket Number: 24/13
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Wife filed an amended complaint for divorce, alleging that she and Husband were married in 1993 in a civil ceremony in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At a merits trial, Husband contested the divorce on…
Date: December 19, 2013
Docket Number: 28/13
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court of special appeals affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that trial court (1)…
Date: December 18, 2013
Docket Number: 29/13
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged with murder and other related offenses. During defense counsel's opening statement, counsel referenced Petitioner's willingness to take a lie detector test during his interrogation by the police.…
Date: December 10, 2013
Docket Number: 2m/12
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: December 10, 2013
Docket Number: 75/11
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: December 9, 2013
Docket Number: 120/11
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: December 3, 2013
Docket Number: 14/13
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: December 2, 2013
Docket Number: 132/11
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: November 27, 2013
Docket Number: 11/13
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: November 27, 2013
Docket Number: 99/12
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: November 26, 2013
Docket Number: 1/13
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: November 26, 2013
Docket Number: 16/13
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: November 26, 2013
Docket Number: 51/12
Justia Opinion Summary: 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…
Date: November 25, 2013
Docket Number: 36/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1998, Appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. In 2011, Appellant filed a second motion to correct an illegal sentence, claiming that his death sentence was unconstitutional and…
Date: November 25, 2013
Docket Number: 96/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs here were employees who had been laid off from their jobs at a State psychiatric hospital and, when the hospital filled vacancies for positions comparable to those previously occupied by the laid-off…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 20/13
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of controlled substance and resisting arrest offenses. The court of special appeals affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not violate Maryland Rule 4-215(e) by failing to…
Date: October 28, 2013
Docket Number: 98/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged with assault, reckless endangerment, firearms violations, and a drug-related offense. Petitioner sought to suppress detectives' observations during and after an investigatory stop of Petitioner on…
Date: October 24, 2013
Docket Number: 27/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of second degree assault in two cases. Petitioner, who was incarcerated at a correctional facility, appealed both convictions but was not transported to court on the date he was scheduled to…
Date: October 23, 2013
Docket Number: 139/09
Justia Opinion Summary: After Mr. Greenfield unsuccessfully filed criminal charges against Petitioner, Petitioner filed a complaint against Mr. and Mrs. Greenfield (Respondents) alleging, inter alia, defamation and false light/invasion of…
Date: October 23, 2013
Docket Number: 31/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In separate cases, several defendants were arrested and detained. The initial appearance documents indicated that the defendants were in the country illegally or had an Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE)…
Date: October 23, 2013
Docket Number: 79/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. According to the State's theory of the case, Defendant was a hit man for the Black…
Date: October 22, 2013
Docket Number: 33/11
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the revocation by divorce statute, which provides that, "unless otherwise provided in the will or decree," a divorce revokes a pre-existing will's provisions "relating to" the spouse. Here…
Date: October 21, 2013
Docket Number: 2/13
Justia Opinion Summary: Buyer purchased property located within a homeowners association. Buyer, who already owned other lots within the association, later canceled the contract with Sellers because he had not received mandatory disclosures…
Date: October 18, 2013
Docket Number: 5/13
Justia Opinion Summary: Decedent died from colorectal cancer that spread to her spine. Decedent had sought treatment for several years from Defendant, who failed to diagnose the cancer. Plaintiffs, Decedent's surviving husband and children,…
Date: October 18, 2013
Docket Number: 89/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Substitute trustees initiated a foreclosure action against defaulting borrowers. The foreclosure sale was announced in a newspaper advertisement stating that if the purchaser failed to settle within ten days of the…
Date: September 30, 2013
Docket Number: 71/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner had health care insurance as a member of the United Healthcare Select HMO (the HMO) when he visited a healthcare provider (GCM) for an x-ray of his knee. After Petitioner paid a bill he received from GCM for…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 122/07
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellees in this case were seventeen-year-olds who would have been eighteen by the 2008 general election. After exhausting their administrative remedies, Plaintiffs filed separate complaints in the circuit court against…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 67/10
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondents each suffered on-the-job accidents, resulting in permanent partial disability. In both cases, at least one of the Respondent's injuries was a "scheduled injury" and the other was an "unscheduled injury." The…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 80/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was charged with conspiracy to commit theft, making a false statement to the police while under arrest, and related offenses after the vehicle in which he was an occupant was stopped by police officers and the…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 87/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The supervisory employee exception to the handgun law allows such an employee to carry a handgun, with the employer's permission, within the enclosed premises of the business in which the employee works. Petitioner, the…
Date: September 26, 2013
Docket Number: 75/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner owned land in the Town of Goldsboro in Caroline County. Lake Bonnie provided the water source for the property, on which Petitioner operated a campground. In the mid-1990s, the Maryland Department of…
Date: September 26, 2013
Docket Number: 95/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Ryan W. entered the care of the Department of Social Services at age nine as a child in need of services (CINA) and was placed in foster care. After Ryan's parents died, the Department was appointed by the Social…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 34/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, each of whom was arrested for a crime and brought before a District Court Commissioner for an initial appearance, filed a complaint against the District Court of Maryland and several court officials alleging…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 68/11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Appellant was convicted of rape. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the Maryland DNA Collection Act, which permits law enforcement authorities to collect DNA samples from individuals arrested for…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 68/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, the La Plata Town Council passed four resolutions, including an annexation resolution acquiring a tract of land. Several citizens of La Plata subsequently published a petition to refer the Council's annexation…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 85/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with murder and expressed a desire to have a bench trial. During the jury trial waiver colloquy, the trial judge provided Defendant with advice that the judge was not required to give Defendant and…
Date: September 25, 2013
Docket Number: 94/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Petitioner pled guilty to a drug offense. Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis, asserting that his guilty plea was not voluntarily made due to his counsel's failure to advise…
Date: September 24, 2013
Docket Number: 77/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After Respondent resigned as executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, he filed a complaint against the Chamber, alleging violations of the Wage Payment and Collection Law, among other claims. After a jury trial,…
Date: September 24, 2013
Docket Number: 90/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. Petitioner unsuccessfully filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of…
Date: September 24, 2013
Docket Number: 97/12
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when six employees of the Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church filed workers' compensation claims, claiming they had sustained physical injury as a result of exposure to mold in…
Date: September 23, 2013
Docket Number: 56/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff worked for the Association of Maryland Pilots as a launch boat operator. Plaintiff was later promoted to assistant station manager. In 2008, Plaintiff was diagnosed with silicosis. Plaintiff sued the…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 17ag/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Stillwell, admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1989, met the complainant, Akojie, a Maryland licensed real estate agent, in 2009 at a seminar he presented. In 2010 the two entered into a legal services agreement that…
Date: August 26, 2013
Docket Number: 37/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second degree rape, second degree assault, and multiple counts of second, third, and fourth degree sexual offenses. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the trial…
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 139/07
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed in the Orphans' Court a petition to obtain legal guardianship of Tracy, her nephew. At the time of the filing of the petition, Tracy's mother (Mother) was deceased and Tracy was living with Petitioner.…
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 93/09
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was appointed the Police Commissioner of Baltimore City by the Mayor. Petitioner and the Mayor entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that addressed the terms and conditions of Petitioner's…
Date: August 22, 2013
Docket Number: 101/08
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent was a driver of a motor vehicle that was involved in a crash. The officer that responded to the accident arrested Respondent and requested that he take a blood test to determine alcohol concentration after…
Date: August 22, 2013
Docket Number: 128/10
Justia Opinion Summary: Druid Ridge Cemetery Company entered into a contract to sell thirty-six acres of the approximately 200 acres it owned and were a part of its cemetery operation. The intended purchaser entered into the contract to…
Date: August 22, 2013
Docket Number: 6/10
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of multiple sexual offenses relating to an attack and rape of a woman. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to sustain Defendant's conviction;…
Date: August 22, 2013
Docket Number: 88/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a botched surgery, Plaintiff sued the two doctors who performed the surgery. The jury entered a verdict in favor of Plaintiff. One of the doctors, Dr. Schneider, appealed. The court of special appeals reversed,…
Date: August 21, 2013
Docket Number: 86/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial trial, Petitioner was convicted of second-degree murder. During the trial, a DNA testified that she could not exclude Petitioner as being the source of DNA recovered from the truck in which the victim was…
Date: August 20, 2013
Docket Number: 61/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial in 1986, Petitioner was convicted of attempted first degree rape and related charges. Petitioner subsequently pled guilty to two counts of first degree rape, one count of second degree rape, and…
Date: August 20, 2013
Docket Number: 83/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, the Webbs, believing they held title to a quarter-acre tract of land, contended that the land was part of three parcels they acquired in 2000. The land abutted and shared its western boundary with property…
Date: August 16, 2013
Docket Number: 12/12
Justia Opinion Summary: CareFirst, Inc., a nonstock, nonprofit Maryland corporation, is a holding company with two subsidiaries that provides health insurance for millions of Maryland residents. State law confers broad authority on the Maryland…
Date: August 16, 2013
Docket Number: 59/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court convicted Petitioner of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Petitioner exercised his right to have his case tried do novo in the circuit court. After a jury-waived trial, the circuit court…
Date: August 15, 2013
Docket Number: 128/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, which operated an animal crematory, filed an action against Respondent, a planning and engineering firm, alleging breach of contract and professional negligence. The complaint failed to attribute Respondent's…
Date: August 15, 2013
Docket Number: 93/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Dorothy Urban's estate (Estate) filed suit against Robert Street, asking the circuit court to declare null and void a deed executed by Urban to Street for a residential property on the grounds that the execution of the…
Date: July 25, 2013
Docket Number: 57/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were the parents of a daughter who died and another daughter who received injuries after Michael Eaton struck the Plaintiffs' car. Plaintiffs filed suit against the owner of the Dogfish Head Alehouse (Dogfish…
Date: July 25, 2013
Docket Number: 82/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Joan Dixon died from mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos. Joan's husband, Bernard, handled asbestos in brake products while working for Ford Motor Company. The Dixons also used a compound manufactured by…
Date: July 22, 2013
Docket Number: 76/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After Petitioner pled and was found not criminally responsible for the murder of two people by reason of a mental disorder, Petitioner was committed to a state-run medical facility run by the Department of Health and…
Date: July 16, 2013
Docket Number: 84/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Child spent twenty-seven months in foster care without progress by his parents toward reunification and without consistently active involvement by other relatives. The juvenile court subsequently decided to pursue a plan…
Date: July 9, 2013
Docket Number: 53/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were tried jointly and convicted of numerous crimes arising from a shooting in Baltimore that left one man dead and two other individuals wounded. The court of special appeals reversed the judgments against…
Date: July 9, 2013
Docket Number: 9/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a soccer player who had volunteered to assist in coaching a team of young soccer players in a program of the Soccer Association of Columbia (Defendant). Plaintiff was injured when the soccer goal, which was…
Date: July 8, 2013
Docket Number: 102/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff contracted mesothelioma allegedly from exposure to asbestos fibers brought into her home on the clothing of her grandfather, who was exposed to asbestos-laden products during the course of his employment.…
Date: July 8, 2013
Docket Number: 74/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a bench trial, Petitioner was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor and attempted sexual abuse of a minor. The convictions arose from messages thirty-eight-year-old Petitioner wrote to an eight-year-old student…
Date: July 1, 2013
Docket Number: 32/12
Justia Opinion Summary: County Council enacted a bill providing that Appellant forfeited his councilmanic position, concluding that Appellant had moved his residence from his councilmanic district to a correctional facility in South Carolina…
Date: June 26, 2013
Docket Number: 109/05
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner, who had a prior non-violent felony conviction, was convicted of wearing and carrying a handgun and two counts of possession of a regulated firearm by a person with a prior conviction. The…
Date: June 26, 2013
Docket Number: 2/07
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of a domestic altercation between Husband and Wife. Wife filed a petition for protection from domestic violence against Husband. The district court issued a final protective order against Husband.…
Date: June 25, 2013
Docket Number: 16mr/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Respondents, residents of the Jacksonville community, were awarded damages by a jury for an Exxon contractor's puncture of an underground gasoline feed line at an Exxon Mobil-owned gasoline service station.…
Date: June 25, 2013
Docket Number: 66/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed this action for negligence and assault against Defendant. Upon reaching a verdict, the jury foreman answered the court clerk's questions about the negligence count by using the verdict sheet submitted to…
Date: June 24, 2013
Docket Number: 21m/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, in two separate lawsuits, sued a medical doctor and medical center for medical negligence, lack of informed consent, and fraud. Prior to the trial date, Defendants successfully moved to bifurcate the trials.…
Date: June 24, 2013
Docket Number: 65/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, the Bellevale Respondents sold an agricultural preservation easement on their dairy farm, Bellevale Farms, to a state agency (MALPF). Twelve years later, Bellevale asked MALPF to permit it to construct a…
Date: May 30, 2013
Docket Number: 4/13
Justia Opinion Summary: After various reports of neglect by their mother, the juvenile court determined two sisters to be children in need of assistance (CINA) and placed them in foster care pending implementation of a plan for their permanent…
Date: May 21, 2013
Docket Number: 30/12
Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute arose out of a contract to sell a shopping center. The contract was amended on several occasions. In one provision, the buyer agreed to indemnify the seller for a real estate commission, which they both…
Date: May 21, 2013
Docket Number: 50/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners in this case were two residents of Howard County who filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that a variety of County resolutions, ordinances, zoning decisions, and administrative actions violated…
Date: May 21, 2013
Docket Number: 60/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a re-trial, a jury found Defendant guilty of first degree murder, second degree murder, and related offenses. At issue on appeal was whether pre-trial statements made by and on behalf of Defendant on the morning of…
Date: May 20, 2013
Docket Number: 43/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with third-degree sex offense and sexual solicitation of a minor. To satisfy the age element of the charge for the third-degree sex offense, the State had to prove Defendant was at least twenty-one…
Date: May 20, 2013
Docket Number: 52/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The two consolidated criminal cases before the Court of Appeals here involved Jeffrey Valonis, who was convicted of robbery and related criminal charges in a bench trial, and Anthony Tyler, who was convicted of burglary…
Date: May 20, 2013
Docket Number: 58/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of rape, kidnapping, and related charges. Nine years later, Defendant filed a revised petition for postconviction DNA testing, which the circuit court granted. Thereafter,…
Date: May 20, 2013
Docket Number: 62/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) fired Plaintiff, a bus operator that suffered from a heart condition. MTA terminated Plaintiff's employment for failing to meet the standard adopted by the State establishing…
Date: May 17, 2013
Docket Number: 72/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged for multiple criminal offenses. Prior to the conclusion of jury deliberations during trial, the jury sent a completed verdict sheet to the trial judge indicating that the jury voted to acquit…
Date: April 25, 2013
Docket Number: 112/06
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of first-degree assault and aggravated cruelty to animals. The court of special appeals affirmed the convictions. Petitioner petition for writ of certiorari, arguing (1) the…
Date: April 25, 2013
Docket Number: 48/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was a passenger in a motor vehicle accident in which her husband, the driver, was killed and Petitioner suffered serious injuries. At the time of the accident, Petitioner and her husband had a motor vehicle…
Date: April 25, 2013
Docket Number: 64/12
Justia Opinion Summary: When a property or casualty insurer becomes insolvent, the Maryland Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Corporation (PCIGC) assumes responsibility for any outstanding claims or litigation. In this case, an insurance…
Date: April 25, 2013
Docket Number: 85/10
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners challenged the validity of two Prince George's County ordinances regulating the packaging, sale or other distribution of cigars on several alternative grounds. One of Petitioners' arguments was that the…
Date: April 24, 2013
Docket Number: 63/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Landowners believed they had the right to use a ten-foot wide strip of land that was used as a driveway to property owned by a Trust. The community homeowners association (Association) and six residents of the…
Date: April 23, 2013
Docket Number: 40/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Baltimore initiated a condemnation action to acquire an old theater once used as a vaudeville venue. The theater's owner (Owner) contested the action, arguing that the City had no right to condemn the…
Date: April 22, 2013
Docket Number: 24/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent, a minor who was having trouble breathing, was transferred by helicopter from a hospital to a university medical center. Present on the flight was a paramedic employed by Petitioner TransCare Maryland, Inc.,…
Date: April 9, 2013
Docket Number: 44/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) is a public corporation established by the legislature to aid in promoting the economic development of the State. This litigation arose from MEDCO's involvement in…
Date: April 8, 2013
Docket Number: 100/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Tiffany Alston, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates, was removed as a delegate after she was convicted and sentenced for misconduct in office. Before Alston fulfilled the conditions of her sentence, the…
Date: April 3, 2013
Docket Number: 16/07
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court's replacement of a juror with an…
Date: March 28, 2013
Docket Number: 47/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Complainants were disabled residents of a condominium. Complainants filed a complaint against the condominium's board of directors (the Condo) and their property management company, alleging that the Condo had…
Date: March 26, 2013
Docket Number: 28/11
Justia Opinion Summary: On March 30, 2009, Petitioner committed a theft of property. After a trial held on December 11, 2009, Petitioner was convicted of the theft of property having a value of $615. Petitioner was sentenced to ten years in…
Date: March 26, 2013
Docket Number: 42/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town of Oxford introduced a resolution proposing to annex a number of acres of submerged lands. Petition circulators subsequently submitted a petition for referendum regarding the proposed solution. The petition was…
Date: March 26, 2013
Docket Number: 49/12
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second-degree assault in connection with an attack on his girlfriend. The court of special appeals affirmed. At issue before the Court of Appeals was whether the trial court…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 10/12
Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute arose out of the alleged exposure of Plaintiff to lead paint at the homes in which she spent her childhood. Petitioner, by her mother, sued the owners of two of the homes, for negligence and unfair trade…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 14/12
Justia Opinion Summary: To facilitate the transition to a competitive market for the supply of electricity, the Legislature provided that consumers would receive certain credits over the period of a year to mitigate a large projected increase…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 54/12
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the adoption of a minor child, Sean, by his stepfather. William, the putative father of Sean, filed an objection to the stepparent adoption one day after the expiration of the thirty-day deadline…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 55/12
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of a challenge by a borrower, Respondent, to the authority of various individuals and entities to effectuate a valid foreclosure on her residential property. After a foreclosure sale was scheduled by…
Date: March 4, 2013
Docket Number: 125/11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Petitioner was convicted of child sexual abuse. Petitioner's conviction was based on his inappropriate contact with a minor during the 1983-84 school year when Petitioner was employed as a school teacher.…
Date: March 1, 2013
Docket Number: 10m/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Gladys Garner and Randolph Scott defaulted on their respective automobile loan agreements. Both contracts were governed by the provisions of the Creditor Grantor Closed End Credit Act of the Commercial Law Article…
Date: February 28, 2013
Docket Number: 26/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was a waterman with a commercial license to harvest clams. As Petitioner was clamming in 2011, a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) police sargeant cited Petitioner for using a hydraulic claim dredge (HCD)…
Date: February 28, 2013
Docket Number: 34/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Railroad employee (Employee) filed suit against his employer (Railroad) under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), alleging that Railroad was negligent in its use of large ballast rather than small ballast in…
Date: February 26, 2013
Docket Number: 15/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Exxon Mobil Corporation reported a leak of approximately 26,000 gallons of gasoline from the underground tanks at its fueling station in Jacksonville, Maryland. Hundreds of residents and business proprietors of…
Date: February 26, 2013
Docket Number: 16/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Dozens of Jacksonville, Maryland households (Respondents) brought suit against Exxon Mobil Corporation for damages from an underground gasoline leak from an Exxon-owned gasoline service station that leaked approximately…
Date: February 25, 2013
Docket Number: 45/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Decedent worked as a firefighter for Baltimore City. After Decedent died, his widow, Petitioner, began receiving survivorship benefits from Decedent's pension. Petitioner later filed a dependent's claim for death…
Date: February 25, 2013
Docket Number: 7m/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Insured was injured in an accident. Insured's policy with Insurer included uninsured motorist (UM) bodily injury coverage and personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. Insured's Employer's third-party workers'…
Date: February 22, 2013
Docket Number: 33/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner entered into a consent order with the several Queen Anne's County officials regarding resolution of their disputes over Petitioner's proposed construction of a project in the county. The consent order…
Date: January 30, 2013
Docket Number: 123/11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, Appellant pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse and third degree sexual offense. Upon conviction, Appellant was required to register as a sex offender for ten years. Since his conviction, however, the statutes…
Date: January 29, 2013
Docket Number: 19/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1982, two elderly widows (the Millers) sold land to one party. Four years later, the Millers purported to sell the same land to Petitioner (the Partnership). The Partnership engaged two title companies (the Title…
Date: January 28, 2013
Docket Number: 107/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayer, a Maryland resident, appealed an assessment by the State Comptroller that did not allow a credit against the county income tax portion of the Maryland income tax. Taxpayer's income consisted of significant…
Date: January 24, 2013
Docket Number: 41/10
Justia Opinion Summary: The Maryland State Conference of NAACP Branches (NAACP), pursuant to the Public Information Act, requested certain records from the Maryland State Police Department (State Police) to ensure State Police officers did not…
Date: January 24, 2013
Docket Number: 93/11
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a complaint against Respondent for unfair and deceptive trade practices and for common law fraud. Petitioner's complaint was based on an automobile warranty he purchased from Respondent that expired more…
Date: January 23, 2013
Docket Number: 29/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent was injured while performing his job as a school police officer in Baltimore City. After the City terminated his employment, Respondent applied for line-of-duty disability retirement. A hearing examiner denied…
Date: January 23, 2013
Docket Number: 35/12
Justia Opinion Summary: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints requested that it be exempt from paying property tax on an apartment complex it owned in Maryland to house missionaries. The county supervisor of assessments concluded that…
Date: January 22, 2013
Docket Number: 21/12
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners filed a petition for judicial review of the Baltimore City Council's approval of a planned unit development (PUD) with a Wal-Mart supercenter. Both Petitioners' residences were approximately 0.4 miles away…
Date: January 18, 2013
Docket Number: 11/12
Justia Opinion Summary: In Powell I, Plaintiff sued Doctor and others for medical malpractice. The circuit court granted summary judgment to Appellees in 2007. The appellate court held that the appropriate remedy was to dismiss the suit. The…
Date: January 18, 2013
Docket Number: 8m/12
Justia Opinion Summary: On behalf of himself and a proposed class of others similarly situated, Plaintiff filed an action challenging the legality of Ticketmaster's collection of a service charge on a concert ticket he purchased for a concert…
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
