The Maryland Court of Appeals will consider whether a general prohibition on judges telling prospective or sitting jurors that prosecutors need not present scientific evidence to prove a defendant’s guilt applies to criminal convictions reached before the high court issued ...

Tagged with: csi effect ineffective assistance of counsel judge's instructions retroactivity voir dire

A defense attorney and a lawyer for the state battled at Maryland’s high court Monday over whether a judge’s failure to ask prospective jurors if they respect a criminal defendant’s constitutional right not to testify invalidates a subsequent conviction or ...

Tagged with: defendant's rights jury selection Kazadi voir dire

Maryland’s top court will consider if judge’s failure to ask prospective jurors if they respect defendants' right not to testify is harmless if they do testify.

Tagged with: defendant's rights jury selection self-incrimination voir dire

Attention criminal defense attorneys: Maryland’s top court has drawn a significant legal distinction between questions asked and not asked of prospective jurors in your trials.

Tagged with: appealable issue criminal defense voir dire

About a dozen overturned convictions have followed the Maryland high court’s landmark decision last year requiring judges to ask prospective jurors – when requested by defense counsel – if they can presume the defendant innocent, require the prosecution to prove ...

Tagged with: jury selection Kazadi presumption of innocence voir dire

They were tried together but only the convicted murderer will get a new trial because his attorney objected to the judge’s refusal to ask prospective jurors if they could presume the defendants innocent while the lawyer for the co-defendant convicted ...

Tagged with: burden of proof presumption of innocence voir dire

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a convicted Westminster armed robber’s argument that his trial attorney’s failure to exclude from the jury a juror who had acknowledged potential bias against accused thieves rendered the conviction invalid despite the ...

Tagged with: juror bias sixth amendment Supreme Court Syed voir dire

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

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland’s top court appears poised to overturn its longstanding precedent and require judges to specifically ask prospective jurors if they can presume the defendant is innocent, require the prosecution to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and ...

Tagged with: beyond a reasonable doubt presumption of innocence privilege against self incrimination voir dire

(Part II of four parts) We return to the hypothetical case of Smith v. Jones. Defense counsel is about to present their argument to allow social media searches of the venire, as well as jury members both during and after ...

Tagged with: Jurors Paul Mark Sandler Social Media venire voir dire