Opinion ID: 2402732
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Request by Attorney General For an Expression of our Views upon the Issues.

Text: If these were ordinary appeals, the above would conclude our consideration and determination thereof. However, the Attorney General, because of the nature of the issues involved, has asked that we express our views thereon. Previous requests of this nature have been granted in exceptional cases. See, among others, the cases of Lee v. State, supra ; Walter v. Montgomery County, 179 Md. 665; Penny v. Md. State Police, 186 Md. 10; State v. Haas, supra ; Whittle v. Munshower, 221 Md. 258; Bd. of Ed. v. Montgomery County, 237 Md. 191. The granting of such requests has usually been based upon weighty public interest being involved in the issues raised, and we think the issues herein are of sufficiently great public importance and concern as to justify our granting of the State's request. For the first time in the history of the State, a judge, by order, has directed, at the request of indicted defendants, the taking of pre-trial depositions of the State's witnesses, without the slightest showing, or even pretext, that the depositions were to be taken pursuant to the authority contained in Maryland Rule 727. Such a practice, if sanctioned, would revolutionize the time-honored and well-established criminal procedure of this State. It would put the State to untold expense, not only in indigent cases where the State, in all probability, would be required to bear the expense of transcribing the depositions and allowances for court-appointed counsel's time, but also in non-indigent cases, and additional Assistant State's Attorneys would have to be employed. Moreover, it would prolong the trial of cases on their merits (at a time when most courts are experiencing great difficulty in keeping abreast of their calendars), where defense counsel would constantly attempt to impeach the State's witnesses when their testimony given showed any slight variation from their depositions. In a complex and lengthy trial, such a course might easily confuse a jury and mislead it in the determination of the real issues involved. In addition, it would pose many novel, intricate, and complicated questions when several defendants were indicted jointly. And it is to be noted that another judge of the same circuit as the judge who passed the orders herein has made a ruling diametrically opposed to the orders passed herein. State v. Monterrey, Daily Record, December 1, 1964. Although the above is not intended to be a statement of all the reasons as to why the issues involved in these appeals are of grave public concern, we feel it is sufficient to establish that, if permitted to continue, the procedure adopted by the trial court entails pervasive consequences in the administration of the criminal laws of this State. Mention is made in appellees' briefs that the State's Attorneys of Maryland have displayed no interest in the outcome of these appeals. The answer to the statements, if they have any significance here, is in the record extract, where it is shown that the State's Attorneys' Ass'n of Maryland unanimously disapproved and rejected a proposed Rule of Court, which would have permitted, in the discretion of the trial court, the taking of depositions by defendants after the filing of indictment or information under certain circumstances. We proceed to a statement of our views.