Opinion ID: 2322590
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appellant Douglas

Text: Douglas's underlying convictionsfor attempted murder in the second degree, assault, and related handgun offensesarose out of an altercation on January 26, 1990, between Douglas and several Baltimore City police officers outside a bar in Baltimore City. One police officer saw Douglas sorting through what appeared to be packages of heroin or cocaine, approached him, and asked Douglas to come speak with his partner. Douglas initially complied with the officer's request, but then turned and tried to run away. When Douglas turned to flee, the officer noticed a .22 caliber handgun tucked into the small of Douglas's back. The officer successfully retrieved the weapon. A struggle quickly ensued as other officers arrived on the scene. Douglas then pulled a .380 caliber handgun from his front waistband and fired four shots. One bullet struck an officer in the upper thigh and three other bullets struck another officer: one hit just below the knee, one severed his police radio cord, and one lodged itself in his utility belt. [3] The officers recovered the second gun and ultimately restrained Douglas. At trial, Douglas appeared pro se after he knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to an attorney and fired his public defender. Seven police officers involved in the altercation testified. Additionally, two ballistics experts, Joseph Reese and Joseph Kopera, testified regarding the ballistic evidence. Reese testified that he had examined the bullet removed from one officer's leg and positively identified it as being fired from the .380 caliber handgun taken from Douglas. Kopera testified that he examined the bullet recovered from the other officer's utility belt several months after the incident and positively identified it as having been fired from the same .380 caliber gun. The jury convicted Douglas of five counts of attempted second degree murder, five counts of assault, five counts of using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and two counts of unlawfully wearing, carrying, and transporting a handgun. The Court of Special Appeals, in an unreported per curiam opinion, affirmed Douglas's convictions. Douglas then filed two postconviction petitions, both of which were denied. In 2009, Douglas filed pro se in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City the present petition for writ of actual innocence pursuant to then-newly enacted C.P. § 8-301. Douglas alleged that the trial court had committed several errors. He further alleged that there was new evidence regarding the officer-witnesses who testified at his trial. Specifically, he asserted: [O]n or about September of 1994, Accuser-Witness: Officer Graham Sylvester was involved in another police shooting case . . . and . . . this time, Officer Sylvester' fellows, police officers did not go along with Officer Sylvester' story and Officer Sylvester was forced to retire from the Baltimore City Police Department. [Also,] on or about March 22, 1996, Police Officer Brian Bacon, who was an accuser-witness against Douglas at the Circuit Court For Baltimore City, appeared in the United States District Court For The District of Maryland and was exposed as an perjurer . . . by changing his . . . testimony. [Finally,] on or about March 9, 2007, the Sunpaper's Newpaper' Reporter Jennifer McMenamin wrote an News Article that exposed Joseph Kopera, Head of the Maryland State Police Firearm Unit, as an perjurer; . . . and he help to denied Douglas a Fair Jury Trial, with his perjurer' testimony. . . . [Sic]. The Circuit Court denied Douglas's petition without a hearing by Order dated November 5, 2009. The substance of the Order reads in full: The court ha[s] reviewed all submissions and ha[s] considered all facts in the case, and ha[s] found that the Petitioner fails to show that there is newly discovered evidence, which could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial, that creates a substantial or significant possibility that the results of his trial may have been different. Douglas immediately filed in the Court of Special Appeals a Notice of Application for Leave to Appeal the Circuit Court's Order. In June 2010, the Court of Special Appeals ordered that Douglas's application be treated like a notice of appeal from the circuit court's decision. On our initiative, we issued a writ of certiorari prior to arguments in the Court of Special Appeals.