Opinion ID: 3160421
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Assessment of Unreasonable Delay

Text: To assess whether the doctrine of laches bars an individual’s ability to seek coram nobis relief, a court first determines whether the individual unreasonably delayed before filing the petition for coram nobis relief; if so, the court next determines whether the unreasonable delay prejudiced the opposing party. See State Ctr., 438 Md. at 586, 92 A.3d at 481 (“[G]enerally, we must analyze whether, (1) in the context of an equitable claim, (2) there was an unreasonable delay in the filing and, if so, (3) whether there was any prejudice.”). In assessing whether the party unreasonably delayed before filing, the court first ascertains the length of the delay, then decides whether the delay was unreasonable. - 17 - See id. at 590, 92 A.3d at 483 (“In determining whether a delay is unreasonable, we must analyze (i) when, if ever, the claim became ripe (i.e., the earliest time at which [the plaintiff]s were able to bring their claims); and (ii) whether the passage of time between then and when the [plaintiff]s filed the complaint was unreasonable.”). Thus, a court’s first task is to determine when the delay began. Here, the parties sharply disagree about when delay begins for purposes of determining whether the doctrine of laches bars a petitioner’s ability to seek coram nobis relief. Jones contends that delay begins when a petitioner may file a facially valid coram nobis petition. The State responds that delay begins when the petitioner knew or should have known of the facts underlying the alleged error. We agree with the State and hold that, for purposes of the doctrine of laches, delay begins when a petitioner knew or should have known of the facts underlying the alleged error—in this case, in 1999, on the date of the guilty plea proceeding. This Court’s precedent compels the conclusion that delay begins when the petitioner knew or should have known of the facts underlying the alleged error. See Frederick Rd. Ltd. P’ship, 360 Md. at 118, 756 A.2d at 986 (“[L]aches cannot be imputed to a party who, through no fault of his or her own, is ignorant of facts giving rise to a cause of action and has, as a consequence, failed to assert it.” (Citing Berman, 193 Md. at 185, 66 A.2d at 395)); Berman, 193 Md. at 185, 66 A.2d at 395 (“[I]t is an essential element of laches that the party charged with it should have had knowledge or the means of knowledge of the facts creating [the party’s] right or cause of action.”); State Ctr., 438 Md. at 590, 92 A.3d at 483 (“In determining whether a delay is unreasonable, we must analyze [] when, if ever, - 18 - the claim became ripe (i.e., the earliest time at which [the plaintiffs] were able to bring their claims)[.]”); State Ctr., 438 Md. at 606, 608, 92 A.3d at 492, 494 (“The local newspapers covered the matter extensively. If the announced process was illegal, [the plaintiff]s could have—and should have—brought their complaints on that score to court sooner than they did. . . . [T]he selection of the Master Developer . . . was announced publicly by [the g]overnor[.]”). Our conclusion—that delay begins when an individual knew or should have known of the facts concerning the alleged error—furthers laches’s purpose of protecting “against stale claims[.]” State Ctr., 438 Md. at 585, 92 A.3d at 480 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). An alleged error comes into existence as soon as the facts underlying the alleged error occur; for example, here, the alleged error came into existence as soon as the allegedly deficient guilty plea proceeding occurred in 1999. By the time that Jones filed the coram nobis petition in 2012, the alleged error was thirteen years old—i.e., stale. Additionally, this conclusion furthers the public’s interests in accurately and promptly resolving allegations of error and maintaining the finality of convictions. The sooner an alleged error is brought to the trial court’s attention, the sooner the trial court can accurately resolve the allegation of error and provide the petitioner with a remedy, if needed, and the sooner the State can prepare for a reprosecution if needed. Over time, memories (such as those of eyewitnesses to a crime) fade and evidence (such as a recording of a guilty plea proceeding) disappears; thus, delay in raising an alleged error impairs both the State’s ability to defend against the allegation of error and the State’s ability to reprosecute. See Holmes, 401 Md. at 487, 932 A.2d at 733 (Raker, J., dissenting) (“Laches - 19 - . . . can prevent the [State] from being unfairly prejudiced by evidentiary destruction resulting from long, unexcused delay.” (Citation omitted)). In assessing the applicability of the doctrine of laches, it is appropriate to consider the public’s interests in accurately and promptly resolving allegations of error and maintaining the finality of convictions; thus, in determining whether laches bars an individual’s ability to seek coram nobis relief, a court considers how its decision will affect the public. See State Ctr., 438 Md. at 609, 92 A.3d at 494 (“To allow the [plaintiff]s to bring the claim at the stage in the development when they did caused the State and Developers to waste substantial public funds, if there were any merit in [plaintiff]s’ substantive claims.”); Liddy, 398 Md. at 254, 919 A.2d at 1290 (An unreasonable delay “prejudiced the electorate as a whole” because “the relief sought by the [plaintiff], i.e.[,] the removal of [the candidate]’s name from the ballot, or, in the alternative, signs being posted to indicate [the candidate]’s ineligibility to voters, would have caused a great deal of uncertainty in the entire election process.”); accord Blanton v. United States, 94 F.3d 227, 231 (6th Cir. 1996) (“[S]ound policy dictates that coram nobis claims be brought as early as possible to prevent the suffering imposed by illegal convictions and to prevent the government from being prejudiced in its efforts to reprosecute meritorious cases.”); Bartz v. State, 740 So. 2d 1243, 1245 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999) (“[T]he policy rationale for allowing a laches defense is important[—]to acknowledge the finality of convictions at some point which, in turn, will foster confidence in the judicial system.” (Citations omitted)). Finally, our conclusion is equitable. Laches is an “equitable defense[,]” State Ctr., - 20 - 438 Md. at 604, 92 A.3d at 491 (citation omitted), and it is only fair to require a petitioner to bring an alleged error to the trial court’s attention without unreasonably delaying after the time at which the petitioner knew or should have known of the facts underlying the alleged error. To hold otherwise would encourage the inequitable result of allowing a petitioner to refrain from challenging an alleged error until doing so suits the petitioner’s interests of avoiding a harsher penalty for having committed a new offense. This case’s circumstances provide a prime example of this scenario. In 1999, the State charged Jones with four crimes, at least two of which (use of a minor for the purpose of distributing heroin and possession of heroin with the intent to distribute) each carried a maximum term of incarceration of twenty years. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Jones pled guilty to a drug offense; the circuit court sentenced Jones to six years of incarceration, with all but eighteen months suspended and with credit for time served, followed by three years of supervised probation; and the other charges were closed or dismissed. At oral argument, Jones’s counsel contended that Jones lacked an incentive to challenge his guilty plea because he received a relatively light sentence.15 Thus, Jones did not move to withdraw his guilty plea, move for a new trial, apply for leave to appeal, move to set aside an unjust or improper verdict, or petition for post-conviction relief, even though the nature of the challenge—that his plea was allegedly not voluntary—was known to him at the time. Jones did not challenge his guilty plea until after he had served his sentence (i.e., gotten the 15 Specifically, Jones’s counsel stated: “He got a very, very, very good deal, even though it involved incarceration, and he was loath to challenge it. . . . [H]e certainly had every incentive not to challenge it[.]” - 21 - benefit of the plea agreement), served a sentence for violating probation, and was subject to an enhanced federal sentence because of yet a later federal crime due in part to his 1999 conviction thirteen years later. It would be absurd to essentially reward Jones for committing a new crime by allowing him to now challenge his thirteen-year-old conviction, and seek to invalidate his bargained-for plea agreement, on the ground that, thirteen years later, he contends that he did not understand the elements of the offense to which he pled guilty. In determining whether laches bars a party’s filing, it is appropriate to consider a petitioner’s motivation for not challenging an alleged error until doing so suits the petitioner’s interests. See State Ctr., 438 Md. at 608, 92 A.3d at 494 (“[S]ignificant motivations of [the plaintiff]s appear to be a ‘desire to stave off competition.’ . . . [T]he motivations of the parties matter and indicate that [the plaintiff]s’ delay in bringing their claims was unreasonable and unjustified.”). Contrary to Jones’s contention, our conclusion is consistent with—and, indeed, supported by—Smith, 443 Md. at 589, 594-95, 117 A.3d at 1103-04, 1106-07, in which this Court held that CP § 8-40116 applies retroactively to coram nobis petitions that were pending when CP § 8-401 became effective. In Smith, this Court did not address any issue as to the doctrine of laches. See Smith, 443 Md. at 587 n.5, 117 A.3d at 1102 n.5 (“The State’s contention that the doctrine of laches bars Smith from obtaining coram nobis relief 16 CP § 8-401’s language does not indicate in any way that a failure to seek an appeal in a criminal case cannot be considered in determining whether laches bars the right to seek coram nobis relief. - 22 - was not ‘raised in or decided by’ the Circuit Court or addressed by the Court of Special Appeals. Because the issue is not preserved for appellate review, we do not address it.” (Citing Md. R. 8-131(a)). Indeed, in Smith, concerning waiver, this Court approvingly quoted Judge Raker’s dissent in Holmes. See Smith, 443 Md. at 609-10, 117 A.3d at 1115 (“To hold with the State’s waiver argument in the present case would ‘cut the heart out of the writ of coram nobis in Maryland.’” (Quoting Holmes, 401 Md. at 475, 932 A.2d at 725 (Raker, J., dissenting)) (brackets and footnote omitted)). Significantly, in Holmes, 401 Md. at 487, 932 A.2d at 733, Judge Raker stated that, unlike a waiver through a failure to seek an appeal, laches can—and, in some instances, should—bar a coram nobis petition: “Laches is a valuable tool for the trial [court] in evaluating a petition for coram nobis. . . . [Laches] can prevent the [State] from being unfairly prejudiced by evidentiary destruction resulting from long, unexcused delay.” (Citation omitted). In other words, Judge Raker’s position was that laches can and may bar coram nobis relief where a long, unreasonable delay prejudices the State because of destruction of evidence. It would be completely contrary to Judge Raker’s dissent (whose main point this Court endorsed in Smith, 443 Md. at 60910, 117 A.3d at 1115) to hold that, for purposes of determining whether the doctrine of laches may bar coram nobis relief, delay begins when a petitioner may file a facially valid coram nobis petition; such a conclusion would ignore the delay (often many years, and often involving the loss or non-preservation of evidence) that accrued since the petitioner knew or should have known of the facts underlying the alleged error. Indeed, it would completely undermine the applicability of the doctrine of laches in - 23 - coram nobis cases to adopt Jones’s position that delay begins when a petitioner may file a facially valid coram nobis petition. In the context of laches, for purposes of the State’s ability to defend against an allegation of error and the trial court’s ability to accurately resolve the allegation of error, what matters is when the petitioner raises the allegation of error, not how the petitioner raises the allegation of error (e.g., in a motion to withdraw a guilty plea, a motion for a new trial, an application for leave to appeal, a motion to set aside an unjust or improper verdict, a petition for post-conviction relief, or a coram nobis petition). The longer the petitioner delays in raising the allegation of error, the more likely it will be that memories will have faded and evidence will have disappeared, thus impairing the State’s ability to defend against the allegation of error, the trial court’s ability to accurately resolve the allegation of error, and the State’s ability to reprosecute if needed. Another reason that our conclusion is consistent with Smith is that, although both laches and waiver can bar coram nobis relief, they are two very distinct doctrines with different applications. Illustrating the point, in Holmes, 401 Md. at 487, 932 A.2d at 733 (Raker, J., dissenting), Judge Raker stated: Unlike waiver, [laches] allows the trial court to consider both the prejudice to the [State] and the reasons for delay. In balancing the two factors, the trial court has more flexibility to allow writs of coram nobis to proceed in those cases where fairness demands an opportunity to be heard on the matter of post-conviction relief. In other words, whereas waiver has a relatively straightforward (and often strict) application—for example, under Holmes, 401 Md. at 431, 932 A.2d at 699, a failure to apply for leave to appeal was presumptively a waiver of the right to seek coram nobis relief—under the doctrine of laches, a court may consider equitable factors, such as - 24 - whether a delay was reasonable and whether the delay prejudiced the opposing party. Indeed, in assessing the applicability of the doctrine of laches, a court must consider each case’s particular circumstances. See State Ctr., 438 Md. at 590, 92 A.3d at 483 (“There is no inflexible rule as to what constitutes, or what does not constitute, laches; hence[,] its existence must be determined by the facts and circumstances of each case.” (Citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Thus, this Court’s holding as to waiver in Smith, 443 Md. at 576, 589, 117 A.3d at 1096, 1103-04, does not diminish in any way the doctrine of laches’s application to an individual’s ability to seek coram nobis relief; and, contrary to Jones’s hyperbole, our conclusion does not create a rule that a coram nobis petitioner who failed to petition for post-conviction relief is, “as a matter of law, barred by laches[.]” On a related note, Jones raises a red herring in comparing this case’s facts to those of Skok and Smith. Specifically, Jones points out that he, Skok, and Smith were not incarcerated or on parole or probation when they filed coram nobis petitions, and that he, Skok, and Smith raised in the coram nobis petitions constitutional issues that had not been previously litigated. It does not follow, however, that Jones is entitled to seek coram nobis relief. The doctrine of laches was not at issue in Skok or Smith; this Court did not address whether Skok or Smith unreasonably delayed in filing coram nobis petitions, or whether such delay prejudiced the State. Thus, comparing the facts of Skok and Smith to the facts of this case (where laches is at issue) gets us nowhere in assessing when delay begins for purposes of determining whether laches bars the right to seek coram nobis relief. In any event, Skok and Smith are readily distinguishable. In Skok, 361 Md. at 5556, 760 A.2d at 648-49, Skok was a native of Italy who had been a lawful permanent - 25 - resident of the United States for several years before pleading guilty to possession of cocaine, and a few months later, entering a plea of nolo contendere to another charge of possession of cocaine. For the first conviction, Skok was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, with all but the three days he had already served suspended; for the second conviction, Skok was sentenced to one day imprisonment, with credit for the day he had already served. Id. at 56, 760 A.2d at 649. At some point thereafter, Skok was faced with the threat of removal from the United States and filed a petition for coram nobis relief seeking to have the judgments of conviction vacated. Id. at 56-57, 760 A.2d at 649-50. Similarly, in Smith, 443 Md. at 577, 579, 583, 117 A.3d at 1096, 1098, 1100, Smith, who was not a United States citizen, but who held a green card, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, all suspended, and one year of supervised probation. Like Skok, Smith served no time in prison as a result of her conviction. Nine years later, Smith attempted to reenter the United States after visiting Canada, and the United States Department of Homeland Security detained Smith based on her earlier conviction and initiated removal proceedings. Id. at 577, 117 A.3d at 1097. By contrast, in this case, Jones was initially sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, with all but eighteen months suspended, and three years of supervised probation; later, after violating the order of probation, Jones was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. In other words, Jones was incarcerated for four and one-half years; i.e., Jones’s sentence was not a “light” sentence of the type to which the petitioners in Skok or Smith were sentenced. It defies logic to believe that, during four and one-half years of incarceration, it was reasonable for Jones to not raise an issue as to the voluntariness of his guilty plea while - 26 - incurring the consequences of imprisonment. Moreover, significantly, neither Skok nor Smith committed new crimes after their initial convictions that led to the threat of removal from the United States and caused them to petition for coram nobis relief. Unlike Jones, both Skok and Smith were faced with immigration consequences stemming from prior guilty pleas. In this case, on the other hand, Jones committed a new crime that resulted in federal prosecution; it was only after that conviction that Jones sought coram nobis relief.17 As such, analysis of the doctrine of laches as applicable in Skok or Smith, had it been raised, would necessarily be different from our analysis in this case. We are utterly unpersuaded by Jones’s reliance on the following statement in Smith, 443 Md. at 598, 117 A.3d at 1108-09: Very often in a criminal case, because of a relatively light sanction imposed or for some other reason, a defendant is willing to forego an appeal[,] even if errors of a constitutional or fundamental nature may have occurred. Then, when the defendant later learns of a substantial collateral consequence of the conviction, it may be too late to appeal[.] (Quoting Skok, 361 Md. at 77, 760 A.2d at 660). Again, laches was not at issue in Skok or Smith. This Court made the above statement in Skok in the context of holding that the ground for a coram nobis petition can be legal as well as factual, see Skok, 361 Md. at 78, 760 A.2d at 661; and, in Smith, this Court quoted the above statement in Skok in the context of assessing waiver, see Smith, 443 Md. at 598, 117 A.3d at 1108-09. Our conclusion as 17 The issue in the laches evaluation is the reasonableness of the delay; accordingly, we do not address the State’s contention that a subsequent crime is not a collateral consequence because such an inquiry goes to whether a coram nobis petitioner has satisfied the requirements for coram nobis relief, i.e., the merits of the coram nobis petition, not whether the petitioner has the right to pursue coram nobis relief or have his or her petition entertained. - 27 - to laches—which is both independent of grounds for coram nobis petitions and, as discussed above, sharply distinct from waiver—is entirely consistent with this Court’s holding as to grounds for coram nobis petitions in Skok and this Court’s holding as to waiver in Smith. Similarly, contrary to Jones’s contention, the Court of Special Appeals’s holding in Moguel, 184 Md. App. at 478, 966 A.2d at 971, is consistent with, and even supports, our conclusion. In Moguel, id. at 478, 468, 966 A.2d at 971, 965, the Court of Special Appeals held that laches applied where a petitioner pled guilty to a drug offense in 1984; became subject to collateral consequences when Congress amended federal immigration statutes in the 1990s; and filed a coram nobis petition in 2007. The Court of Special Appeals stated: “[T]he changes in federal laws that had the potential to adversely affect [the petitioner’s] immigration status were in effect in 1993 and 1996. At either of those times, [the petitioner] could have filed a petition to challenge his conviction[.]” Id. at 478, 966 A.2d at 971. Jones seemingly relies on this statement to contend that the Court of Special Appeals measured the delay from the date on which the petitioner became subject to collateral consequences in the 1990s. To the contrary, the Court of Special Appeals measured the delay from the date of the petitioner’s guilty plea. See id. at 478, 966 A.2d at 970-71 (The petitioner “waited twenty-three years to file a petition to challenge the validity of his guilty plea and conviction. A delay of this length is unreasonable.”). Accordingly, the statement of the Court of Special Appeals about the time when the petitioner became subject to collateral consequences in the 1990s went to the reasonableness, not the length, of the delay. - 28 -