Opinion ID: 3164661
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Matthew D. Meyer

Text: On or about the evening of October 23, 2002, Meyer turned eastbound on Mount Aetna Road in Washington County and began tailgating the vehicle in front of him. In order to pass the vehicle, Meyer sped up dramatically and crossed the double yellow line into the westbound lane. The posted speed limit was 35 miles per hour. After passing the vehicle, Meyer continued to drive eastbound in the westbound lane at a minimum speed of 75 miles per hour and struck an oncoming Ford Ranger occupied by Gerald and Mary Dietrich. The 2 collision caused the Dietrichs’ truck, traveling at a speed of about 24 miles per hour, to flip over on its side, skid in the reverse direction, and roll onto its roof about 40 feet from the site of impact. During the collision, Mr. Dietrich was ejected from his truck. He was later transported to Washington County Hospital and pronounced dead. Mrs. Dietrich was trapped in the upside down truck and pronounced dead at the scene of the collision. Meyer was also trapped in his vehicle, but was successfully extracted and flown to Shock Trauma in Baltimore. He survived the collision. At the time of this incident, Meyer had already amassed a series of traffic violations,2 including an accident in May 2000 which left him paralyzed from the chest down. On November 19, 2003, Meyer pled nolo contendere3 in the Circuit Count for Washington County to two counts of manslaughter by motor vehicle4 2 Meyer began committing traffic violations in 1995, less than a month after he was first licensed to drive by the State of Maryland. These violations include, inter alia, citations for: failure to obey traffic signals/signs; speed in excess of the posted maximum, exceeding the maximum speed limit by 30 miles per hour; driving in a race or speed contest on a highway; exceeding the maximum speed limit by 10 miles per hour; and driving at a speed not reasonable and prudent. 3 A plea of nolo contendere is “a plea stating that the defendant will not contest the charge but does not admit guilt or claim innocence.” Md. Code (2001, 2008 Repl. Vol.), § 1-101(k) of the Criminal Procedure Article. In effect, a nolo contendere plea is an implied confession of guilt, and is equivalent to a guilty plea for the purposes of the underlying criminal case. Cohen v. State, 235 Md. 62, 69, 200 A.2d 368, 372 (1964). 4 Md. Code (2002, 2012 Repl. Vol.), § 2-209(b) of the Criminal Law Article states that “[a] person may not cause the death of another as a result of the person’s driving, operating, or controlling a vehicle or vessel in a grossly negligent manner.” 3 (“vehicular manslaughter”).5 As a result, the Circuit Court sentenced Meyer to a total of fourteen years of incarceration, seven of which were suspended, and imposed three years of unsupervised probation with a special condition. In pertinent part, Judge W. Kennedy Boone, III stated: [Meyer] will not be allowed to operate a motor vehicle, and I can only order in [] the State of Maryland, [that he not] operate a motor vehicle, obviously during the time of his confinement, [and] during the time of any probation. Now that’s always subject to show cause, or whatever, but I think that is appropriate. Everything he’s done has been motor vehically [sic] related . . . . Meyer signed the Probation Order to indicate his consent to the condition that he “not be allowed to operate a motor vehicle in the State of Maryland.” On or about October 7, 2008, Meyer’s probation commenced following his release from prison. During the probationary period, on April 20, 2010, Meyer obtained a driver’s license from the Motor Vehicle Administration (“MVA”). About two months later, while still on probation, Meyer operated a motor vehicle traveling at a speed of 84 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone. The State Trooper who stopped the vehicle driven by Meyer issued him a citation for driving at an unreasonable speed. Again, on July 4, 2010, Meyer was stopped by a police officer for failing to use the headlamps while operating a motor vehicle. As a result of these traffic violations, Meyer was charged with violating the special condition of his earlier probation. At the violation of probation hearing on February 16, 5 At the time of the 2002 collision, Meyer was on probation for a prior felony conviction. Meyer admitted that his plea of nolo contendere to two counts of vehicular manslaughter triggered a violation of his probation. 4 2011, he admitted to driving in the State of Maryland and to the commission of the traffic violations. Meyer, however, moved to dismiss the action, asserting for the first time that the condition of probation prohibiting him from driving in the State of Maryland, even though imposed in 2003, agreed to by him, and effective upon his release from prison in 2008, was illegal. On March 7, 2011, Judge Boone issued an Opinion and Order in response to Meyer’s motion to dismiss. The court determined that Meyer violated his probation based on his admission of operating a motor vehicle in the State of Maryland. Judge Boone explained his decision: In the case at bar, the special condition imposed by the [c]ourt was made part of his probation order. There was consent to the condition as evidenced by [Meyer’s] signature, and there was no appeal of the condition, or alleging the condition being plain error. In addition, the condition was clear and could be understood by all those who read it. The condition also seems proper when considering that [Meyer] became debilitated, both mentally and physically, due to driving at excessive speeds, and killing two people due to driving at excessive speeds, and after being released from prison he was apprehended for traveling at an excessive high rate of speed. Also the condition appears appropriate in the context of public safety and [Meyer’s] history of high speed moving violations and accidents. The [c]ourt thought it best to restrict [Meyer’s] driving due to his constant disregard for human life and his lack of the mental wherewithal necessary to comprehend the dangerousness of his actions of high speed due to his diagnosed physical and neurological disabilities. The [c]ourt did not divest power from the MVA, nor forbid [Meyer] from following the proper and necessary MVA procedures to re-acquire an operator’s license from the MVA. The [c]ourt simply denied [Meyer] the right to drive within the State of Maryland to which [Meyer] acquiesced. After Judge Boone retired, Judge Daniel P. Dwyer of the Circuit Court for Washington County conducted the sentencing hearing on the violation of probation. On May 18, 2011, 5 Judge Dwyer sentenced Meyer to seven years of incarceration, three and a half years suspended, and placed him on two years of unsupervised probation with the condition that he obey all laws.6 At the sentencing hearing, Judge Dwyer explained in part: Judge Boone knew about your driving record . . . . He knew that you severely injured yourself a couple years before this tragic event. You injured yourself further Mr. Meyer from what I’ve read. More traumatic brain injury in the same accident that took the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich . . . . While it wasn’t an intentional killing, it was a wanton and willful disregard . . . . And I believe Judge Boone was trying to fashion a sentence not so much to punish Mr. Meyer but to protect the public which I think [is] our number one sacred duty as judges is [sic] to try to prevent harm to the citizens of our country . . . . Taking the above into consideration, Judge Dwyer fashioned a sentence that would “give Mr. Meyer every incentive not to operate a motor vehicle again.” Approximately three years later, on April 18, 2014, Meyer filed a Motion to Correct an Illegal Sentence under Maryland Rule 4-345(a).7 Judge Dwyer denied this motion after a hearing on June 24, 2014 and explained his decision: I very much respect the Constitution, and I don’t want to tread on the province of the Executive Branch, who under the Motor Vehicle Administration rules 6 The probation order included a handwritten note specifying that Meyer obey all motor vehicle laws and that a ticket for going even one mile over the speed limit would constitute a violation of probation. 7 On June 17, 2011, Meyer timely filed an Application for Leave to Appeal from the Order revoking his probation in the Circuit Court for Washington County. The Court of Special Appeals granted his petition on January 31, 2013. In an unreported opinion, the intermediate appellate court dismissed the appeal under Savoy v. State, 336 Md. 355, 648 A.2d 683 (1994), concluding one may not challenge the legality of a condition of his or her probation in an application for leave to appeal. The Court of Special Appeals noted that its dismissal did not preclude Meyer from filing a motion to correct an illegal sentence under Rule 4-345(a). 6 decides who gets to drive and who doesn’t get to drive. The [] [c]ourt cannot issue an illegal sentence. I think that would be more akin to a sentence where the statutory maximum is a year in jail, and the defendant agrees and the judge sentences that defendant to two years in jail . . . . Mr. Meyer agreed to these conditions of probation in lieu of getting this full sentence imposed on him without any portion of it suspended. He is now [] after violating that specific condition of probation by not only driving a motor vehicle, but I think the facts were speeding again, that he is estopped from complaining about it now . . . . But I agree with the analysis that Judge Boone made. I do not find this to be an illegal sentence. On July 1, 2014, Meyer timely appealed the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence. Pending the appeal and prior to any proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals, we granted certiorari. Matthew D. Meyer v. State of Maryland, 442 Md. 194, 112 A.3d 373 (2015).