Opinion ID: 1925281
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Review by the Court of Special Appeals

Text: Owens noted timely an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. The intermediate appellate court affirmed the judgment of the Circuit Court. As to both issues discussed previously, it relied on much the same grounds as expressed by the trial court. [11] The intermediate appellate court concluded that Owens's right to a citizen jury was purely statutory, not constitutional, in nature. Owens v. State, 170 Md.App. 35, 71, 906 A.2d 989, 1009 (2006). Because the voir dire process is the means by which defendants are accorded the opportunity to identify and challenge unqualified jurors, a failure to pose proper questions and object during that time is equated to a waiver of that opportunity. Owens, 170 Md.App. at 71-73, 906 A.2d at 1009-10. The Court of Special Appeals reinforced its conclusion by examining Kohl v. Lehlback, 160 U.S. 293, 16 S.Ct. 304, 40 L.Ed. 432 (1895), a case where, in spite of a due process argument, the Supreme Court refused to grant a post-conviction objection to a non-citizen juror. Owens, 170 Md. App. at 73, 906 A.2d at 1010. The appellate panel analogized Kohl to several Maryland cases involving jurors whose statutory disqualifications were discovered only after a verdict was rendered and motions for new trials were denied because it was held that the right to object to unqualified jurors had been waived. Owens, 170 Md. App. at 73-77, 906 A.2d at 1010-12. As for the custodial interrogation issue, the Court of Special Appeals reasoned that the encounters between the detectives and Owens were not very long and that a reasonable person in Owens's position would have felt free to leave the situations. Owens, 170 Md.App. at 99, 906 A.2d at 1025. We granted Owens's petition for a writ of certiorari. 396 Md. 12, 912 A.2d 648 (2006).