Sign In
Free Newsletter
SACHINDER N. GUPTA v. MARYLAND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE
Civil rights — Free speech — Sovereign immunity Sachinder N. Gupta (“Gupta”), appellant, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County against Maryland Environmental Service (“MES”), appellee, alleging a violation of his right to exercise free speech under Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights (Count I), and defamation (Count II). MES […]
City Council passes bill banning ‘gag orders,’ sends it to mayor
The Baltimore City Council unanimously passed the third reading of a bill Monday that would prohibit non-disparagement agreements, also referred to as “gag orders,” in police brutality and misconduct cases. The bill aims to prohibit settlements with the city that prevent claimants from discussing their experiences with police misconduct in public and with the press.
EL SOUNDANI ELWAHHABI v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Civil litigation — Prisoner’s motion to change name — Denial without explanation Shawnte Anne Levy, the appellant, is incarcerated at the North Branch Correctional Institution. She would like the name on her prison identification badge to match her legal name. Pursuant to Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services policy, because her legal name is […]
DONTAE SPIVEY v. JOHN WOLFE, WARDEN
Maryland Public Information Act — Request for recordings — Non-existence of recordings In December 2013, Dontae Spivey, appellant, an inmate at the Jessup Correctional Institution (“JCI”), requested that John Wolfe, appellee, the warden of JCI, provide recordings of phone calls he made to his attorney – Rachel Kamins – on certain dates because he believed […]
GUY D. HARRIS v. KATHLEEN S. GREEN, WARDEN
Criminal procedure — Writ of habeas corpus — Legally permissible Guy Harris, appellant, appeals the denial, by the Circuit Court for Carroll County, of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In response, the State filed a motion to dismiss the appeal as not permitted by law. Read the opinion here
WILLIE L. BARTON v. RICKY FOXWELL, WARDEN
Criminal procedure — Writ of habeas corpus — Diminution credits In 1975, Willie L. Barton, appellant, was convicted of first-degree murder following a jury trial in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.1 In 2015, Barton filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, claiming that the Division of Correction […]
DAVID BOLDING v. JOSHUA A. KOZAY, ET AL
Torts — False arrest and deprivation of liberty — Traffic stop After a police officer signaled a motorist to stop, he continued driving for more than 60 seconds, passing numerous places where he could safely stop. The motorist’s conduct led the officer to suspect that he might be attempting to conceal a weapon. When the […]
LARIN GRIFFIN v. FRANK BISHOP, WARDEN
Civil litigation — Writ of habeas corpus — Deprivation of good-conduct credits On September 29, 2015, Larin Griffin, appellant, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court for Allegany County. Appellant alleged that the Division of Corrections (“the Division”), an agency within the Maryland State Department of Public Safety and […]
CHRISTOPHER McCANN v. BOBBY P. SHEARIN, WARDEN
Appellate procedure — Untimely appeal — Dismissal On September 26, 2013, the Circuit Court for Alleghany County granted the appellee, Bobby Shearin’s, motion to dismiss the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint filed by the appellant, Christopher McCann. The appellant then filed an untimely appeal from the circuit court’s decision. Therefore, pursuant to Md. Rule 8-602(a)(3), […]
CHADWICK LESTER v. GREGG L. HERSHBERGER
Criminal procedure — Writ of habeas corpus — Right to counsel On May 30, 2012, Appellant, Lester Chadwick, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court for Harford County against Gregg L. Hershberger, then-warden of the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Maryland, alleging, among other things, that the State violated his […]
MATTHEW B. ROSE v. MAUNDA WILLIAMS
TORTS -- FALSE ARREST -- PROBABLE CAUSE TO ARREST Matthew B. Rose was arrested in the early morning hours of August 22, 2012 based on Officer Maunda Williams’s belief that Mr. Rose had participated in a high-speed car chase with police. As it turns out, Officer Williams mistook Mr. Rose for a passenger in the car that he and his fellow officers ultimately cut off, but his mistake only became [...]
LYE HUAT ONG v. STATE OF MARYLAND
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- WRIT OF ACTUAL INNOCENCE -- RIGHT TO REPLY TO STATE'S RESPONSE In 1998, Lye Huat Ong, appellant, pleaded guilty, in the Circuit Court for Howard County, to two counts of child abuse and one count of sexual offense in the second degree and was thereafter sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment. His application for leave to appeal from that guilty plea was denied. Ong [...]
