Opinion ID: 2156512
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: May the Writ Issue Where the State Would Otherwise be Unable to Seek Appellate Review?

Text: Restrictions on the State's ability to appeal, presently contained in Md.Code (1973, 2002 Repl.Vol.), § 12-301(c) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, have been strictly construed against the State. See Derry v. State, 358 Md. 325, 337-38, 748 A.2d 478, 485 (2000) (dismissing the State's appeal from an order suppressing evidence for violation of the Maryland Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act because it did not satisfy the terms of the statute); State v. Anderson, 320 Md. 17, 26, 575 A.2d 1227, 1231 (1990) (dismissing the State's appeal under Section 12-302(a) based upon a judgment of the circuit court exercising its appellate jurisdiction over the District Court); State v. Pike, 287 Md. 120, 123-24, 410 A.2d 1079, 1081 (1980) (dismissing the State's appeal from an order barring further prosecution of the defendant on double jeopardy grounds because it did not fall into a category defined in Section 12-302(c)). As set out supra, Section 12-302(c) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides that the State has a limited right to appeal in criminal cases. Unless the issue presented may properly be categorized as one of the actions enumerated in the statute, the State has no power to seek appellate review. The trial court's decision to strike the State's Notice of Intention to Seek the Penalty of Death cannot be characterized as falling under any of the provisions of Section 12-302(c). It does not grant a motion to dismiss or quash or dismiss the indictment against Henry, nor has Judge Manck failed to impose a mandatory sentence or imposed or modified a sentence in violation of the Rules. Clearly, Judge Manck's decision is not appealable under Section 12-302(c)(3)(i) because it does not exclude evidence or require the return of property in violation of the Federal or State Constitutions or the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Therefore, the State has no right to appeal from Judge Manck's decision to grant Henry's motion to strike the State's Notice. [13] In the present case, the State, acknowledging that it has no right to appeal the grant of the motion to strike, has asked for this Court, nevertheless, to grant relief through the process of issuing a prerogatory writ. A review of this Court's opinions reveals that the State has never secured mandamus relief in a criminal case where it did not have the statutory right to appeal. See, e.g., State v. Tobias, Order, Sept. Term 1992 (per curiam) (denying the State's petition for extraordinary writ in a criminal case). One implicit rationale may be, as the Supreme Court has stated repeatedly, [m]andamus, of course, may never be employed as a substitute for appeal in derogation of the policies behind limiting the State's access to appellate review. Will v. United States, 389 U.S. 90, 97, 88 S.Ct. 269, 274, 19 L.Ed.2d 305, 311 (1967), citing Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U.S. 141, 82 S.Ct. 671, 7 L.Ed.2d 629 (1962); Parr v. United States, 351 U.S. 513, 520-21, 76 S.Ct. 912, 917, 100 L.Ed. 1377, 1385 (1956); Bank of Columbia v. Sweeny, 1 Pet. 567, 569, 7 L.Ed. 265, 266 (1828); see also In re Petition for Writ of Prohibition, 312 Md. at 302, 539 A.2d at 674-75, quoting Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264, 397, 5 L.Ed. 257, 289 (1821) (a writ of prohibition or any other similar writ [is] in the nature of appellate process.). In Will v. United States, 389 U.S. 90, 88 S.Ct. 269, 19 L.Ed.2d 305 (1967), the Supreme Court considered the propriety of a writ of mandamus issued by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to compel a United States District Judge to vacate a portion of a pretrial order requiring the Government to furnish certain information about witnesses. Id. at 91-92, 88 S.Ct. at 271-72, 19 L.Ed.2d at 308. The Court acknowledged that Congress had limited the State's right to appeal in criminal cases and that mandamus should never be used as a substitute for appeal in violation of statutory limits. Id. at 97, 88 S.Ct. at 274, 19 L.Ed.2d at 311-12. The Court further noted that there have been specific instances where mandamus has been issued on behalf of the Government where it has been totally deprived of the right to initiate a prosecution or where the trial court exceeded its authority and denied the Government the proper results of a valid conviction, but that a writ has never successfully been applied to interlocutory procedural orders in criminal cases that do not have the effect of a dismissal. Id. at 97-98, 88 S.Ct. at 275, 19 L.Ed.2d at 311-12. Therefore, considering the strong policies disfavoring appeals by the Government in criminal cases and the Court's refusal to use mandamus as a means of circumventing the limits on the Government's right to appeal in criminal cases, the United States Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit was not justified in its invocation of the extraordinary writ in [that] case. Id. at 98, 88 S.Ct. at 275, 19 L.Ed.2d at 312. Concomitantly, because of the strictures placed on our jurisdiction throughout the Maryland Code, we cannot use the writ in aid of appellate jurisdiction to confer appellate jurisdiction on the Court. To use the writ to create jurisdiction beyond the boundaries set forth in statutes would essentially vest four members of this Court with the power to define what can be appealed by the State merely by identifying the judicial act under consideration as extraordinary. We cannot confer upon ourselves appellate jurisdiction under the guise of being in aid of appellate jurisdiction. Therefore, we hold that because the State cannot appeal Judge Manck's grant of Henry's motion to strike the State's Notice in the first instance, we may not issue a prerogatory writ to permit appellate review beyond the limitations set forth by statute. In so declaring, we recognize that any language to the contrary contained in dicta in In re Petition for Writ of Prohibition, 312 Md. 280, 539 A.2d 664 (1988), is hereby disapproved. In In re Petition for Writ of Prohibition, this Court stated, If the use of a writ is `necessary to enable ... [the Court] to exercise appellate jurisdiction' it is in aid of that jurisdiction. Id. at 304, 539 A.2d at 675-76. After a careful examination of the law of both our sister states and the federal courts, we find that Maryland was singular in its discussion of the possibility of permitting a writ of prohibition to issue in aid of appellate jurisdiction in circumstances of a criminal case where appellate review could not be exercised. See, e.g., In re: Bellsouth Corp., 334 F.3d 941, 951-52 (11th Cir.2003) (stating that [m]andamus is not to be used as a subterfuge to obtain appellate review that is otherwise foreclosed by law.); Lamb v. Principi, 284 F.3d 1378, 1384 (Fed.Cir.2002) (holding that extraordinary writs cannot be used as substitutes for appeals, even though hardship may result from delay and perhaps unnecessary trial); Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. District Court of the Muscogee Nation, 5 Okla. Trib. 447, 449 (Muscogee 1998) (stating that mandamus cannot be used to expand the statutory scope of interlocutory appeals); United States v. McVeigh, 106 F.3d 325, 333 (10th Cir.1997) (holding that mandamus should never be employed to extend the Government's right to appeal and thereby create appellate jurisdiction); United States v. Margiotta, 662 F.2d 131, 134 n. 8 (2d Cir.1981) (holding that because mandamus cannot be used to circumvent the limitations of the Government's statutory right to appeal in criminal cases, the court may not issue it to accomplish such a purpose); State v. Stirba, 972 P.2d 918, 920 (Utah.App.1998) (stating that the State is limited in appellate rights by statute and mandamus cannot be used to circumvent that restriction); Tyson v. State, 593 N.E.2d 175, 179-80 (Ind.1992) (stating that an extraordinary writ will not issue in aid of appellate jurisdiction where there is no implication of the court's appellate jurisdiction); State v. Lewis, 188 W.Va. 85, 422 S.E.2d 807, 816-17 (1992); Ex Parte Nice, 407 So.2d 874, 877 (Ala.1981) (noting that mandamus should not be a substitute for appeal and can only issue in aid of appellate jurisdiction if the petitioner has the right to appeal). Any reliance by the State, then, on this language is misplaced.