ANNAPOLIS – A sharply divided Maryland high court ruled Friday that trial judges must ask prospective jurors – when requested by defense counsel – whether they can presume the defendant is innocent, require the prosecution to prove its case beyond ...

Tagged with: defendant's rights jury selection voir dire

Attention Maryland circuit court judges: The only way for you to ask prospective jurors if they have strong feelings about the crime charged is to ask them – without elaboration – “Do you have strong feelings about” the crime charged. ...

Tagged with: jury selection strong feelings question voir dire

Maryland’s second-highest court Friday overturned the second-degree murder conviction of a man accused of beating his girlfriend to death in Dundalk, saying the trial judge unconstitutionally barred the defendant’s family from attending jury selection. In its reported 3-0 decision, the ...

Tagged with: jury selection right to public trial sixth amendment

With the #MeToo movement continuing to dominate headlines, everyone is talking about sexual harassment — around the water cooler, around the family table and online. Media coverage of harassment is ubiquitous and #MeToo posts regularly go viral on social media. ...

Tagged with: #MeToo jury selection

Trial judges must state on the record the evidentiary bases for concluding that a prosecutor or criminal defense attorney unconstitutionally sought to strike would-be jurors because of their race, a splintered Maryland high court ruled Tuesday.

Tagged with: Batson jury selection peremptory challenges

Jury selection for the officer facing the most serious charge for his alleged role in the death of Freddie Gray last April is scheduled to begin Monday, but an appellate order barring the testimony of a key witness may cause ...

Tagged with: appeal caesar goodson Freddie Gray Freddie Gray jury selection trial william porter

Protests on the street could be heard inside the fourth-floor Baltimore courtroom where dozens of prospective jurors appeared Monday morning as jury selection began in the case against Officer William Porter, one of six police officers charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray.

Tagged with: baltimore city circuit court Freddie Gray jury jury selection officer william porter voir dire

Welcome to Monday, a day to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the continuing march toward equal treatment. Here are some news items to get your week started.

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Appellant raises three issues on appeal of his convictions of robbery and related offenses. In addition to challenging the evidence supporting his convictions and an evidentiary ruling on hearsay, he alleges that the Circuit Court f failed to provide an adequate number of prospective jurors.

Tagged with: Baltimore County evidence hearsay jury selection robbery Sept. Term 2013 Zarnoch

Maryland attorneys should be permitted to ask a prospective juror questions designed to elicit answers to help the lawyers decide whether to strike him or her from the jury pool without having to give a reason for the dismissal, the Judiciary’s rules committee recommended to the state’s top court last week.

Tagged with: jury selection voir dire