Lopez-Villa v. State
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The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the court of special appeals finding that Petitioner waived his objections to the trial court's denial of his proposed voir dire questions, holding that Petitioner failed to preserve his claims based on Kazadi v. State, 223 A.3d 554 (2020).
In Kazadi, the Court of Appeals held that, upon request, a court is required to ask potential jurors voir dire questions directed at a defendant's fundamental rights related to the burden of proof, the presumption of innocence, and the right not to testify and held that this ruling applied retroactively to cases pending on appeal so long as the relevant question was preserved for appellate review. In the instant case, which was pending when Kazadi was decided and in which the trial court declined Defendant's request to ask Kazadi voir dire questions, was whether Petitioner's claim based on the trial court's failure to ask questions required by Kazadi was properly reserved for appellate review. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that Petitioner's claims were not preserved for appellate review under Md. Rule 4-323(c).
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