Opinion ID: 2357354
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to Strike Appearance of Counsel

Text: In his Motion and supporting Memorandum of Law, Hoile contended that Palmer is not a party and should not be able to participate in the case as a matter of right. [14] Palmer countered that she has a right to brief and argue the issues in the case as if a party, citing, among other supporting reasons, recent changes to Maryland Rule 8-111. [15] Maryland Rule 8-111 currently states: DESIGNATION OF PARTIES; REFERENCES (a) Formal Designation. (1) No Prior Appellate Decision. When no prior appellate decision has been rendered, the party first appealing the decision of the trial court shall be designated the appellant and the adverse party shall be designated the appellee. Unless the Court orders otherwise, the parties to a subsequently filed appeal shall be designated the cross-appellant and cross-appellee. (2) Prior Appellate Decision. In an appeal to the Court of Appeals from a decision by the Court of Special Appeals or by a circuit court exercising appellate jurisdiction, the party seeking review of the most recent decision shall be designated the petitioner and the adverse party shall be designated the respondent. Except as otherwise specifically provided or necessarily implied, the term appellant as used in the rules in this Title shall include a petitioner and the term appellee shall include a respondent. (b) Alternative References. In the interest of clarity, the parties are encouraged to use the designations used in the trial court, the actual names of the parties, or descriptive terms such as employer, insured, seller, husband, and wife in papers filed with the Court and in oral argument. (c) Victims and Victims' Representatives. Although not a party to a criminal or juvenile proceeding, a victim of a crime or a delinquent act or a victim's representative may: (1) file an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Special Appeals from an interlocutory or a final order under Code, Criminal Procedure Article, § 11-103 and Rule 8-204; or (2) participate in the same manner as a party regarding the rights of the victim or victim's representative. [Emphasis added.] Section (c) was added by a Rules Order of this Court signed on 4 December 2007. The change became effective on 1 January 2008. [16] Thus, this motion presents our first opportunity to construe the new portions of the rule. Palmer contends that Maryland Rule 8-111(c)(2) permits her to participate in this appeal in the same manner as a party. Under the circumstances of this case, we must agree that Palmer has the right to brief and argue in this appeal. Because this is our first application of Maryland Rule 8-111(c) since its adoption, some relevant retrospection is required. Article 47 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, the Victims' Rights Amendment, [17] states: (a) A victim of crime shall be treated by agents of the State with dignity, respect, and sensitivity during all phases of the criminal justice process. (b) In a case originating by indictment or information filed in a circuit court, a victim of crime shall have the right to be informed of the rights established in this Article and, upon request and if practicable, to be notified of, to attend, and to be heard at a criminal justice proceeding, as these rights are implemented and the terms crime, criminal justice proceeding, and victim are specified by law. (c) Nothing in this Article permits any civil cause of action for monetary damages for violation of any of its provisions or authorizes a victim of crime to take any action to stay a criminal justice proceeding. Article 47 represents the strong public policy that victims should have more rights and should be informed of the proceedings, that they should be treated fairly, and in certain cases, that they should be heard. Lopez-Sanchez v. State, 388 Md. 214, 229, 879 A.2d 695, 704 (2005), superceded by statute on other grounds by Chapter 260 of the Acts of 2006. Article 47 and related legislation have created a class of specific, but narrow, rights for victims with regard to certain aspects of the criminal proceedings against the perpetrators of the crimes committed against victims or their property. For example, § 11-104 provides the statutory scheme by which a victim may elect to be notified of the proceedings in the relevant criminal case. Section 11-102 grants victims the right to attend any proceeding in which the right to attend is granted to the defendant. Section 11-302 defines victims' rights to be present at trial. Sections 11-402 and 11-403 elaborate victims' rights to be heard regarding pre-sentence investigative reports and at sentencing hearings, respectively. Section 11-404 defines victims' rights to address juries in death penalty proceedings. Section 11-503 grants victims the right to be notified of post-conviction appeals and other proceedings. Section 11-103 provides that a victim may file an action for leave to appeal an interlocutory or final order that denies or fails to consider a right granted to him or her by certain statutory provisions. The application for leave to appeal, however, does not stay other proceedings in a criminal case, unless all parties consent. [18] § 11-103(c); Article 47 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. These rights, however, are limited in application and context. In the present case, for example, Palmer is not a party to the litigation. § 11-103(b); Maryland Rule 8-111(c). There are only two parties, the State of Maryland and Hoile. See Lopez-Sanchez, 388 Md. at 226 879 A.2d at 702 (The victim is not a party to the proceeding . . . although vested with statutory and constitutional rights. . . .); Surland v. State, 392 Md. 17, 23 n. 1, 895 A.2d 1034, 1037 n. 1 (2006). As such, there are some important differences between the rights of parties and those of non-parties enjoying limited rights regarding participation in criminal litigation. Although a victim may file an application for leave to appeal, he or she does not have a right to appeal as a party does. Maryland Code (1974, 2006 Repl.Vol.), Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article, § 12-301. A non-party's right to participate in the litigation is limited to decisions affecting the party's direct and substantial interests. Lopez-Sanchez, 388 Md. at 227, 879 A.2d at 702. The limits of victims' rights have been defined further in Maryland caselaw. In Cianos v. State, 338 Md. 406, 659 A.2d 291 (1995), we held that victims who erroneously were denied a right to speak at the defendant's sentencing were not entitled to maintain an appeal. In so holding, we noted that the statute enabling victims to speak at sentencing had no teeth because victims could not seek invalidation of the sentence. Cianos, 338 Md. at 412, 659 A.2d at 294 (quoting Lodowski v. State, 302 Md. 691, 747, 490 A.2d 1228, 1256-57 (1985)). We re-affirmed that proposition in Lopez-Sanchez, 388 Md. 214, 879 A.2d 695. In Lopez-Sanchez, a victim of a violent crime committed by a juvenile sought to appeal an inadequate restitution amount awarded in the disposition of the juvenile court proceeding. We held that if the prosecutor or the trial court does not follow the law with respect to a victim's rights in a juvenile proceeding, the Legislature has not given to the victim the general right to appeal that decision. Lopez-Sanchez, 388 Md. at 230, 879 A.2d at 704. In response to our holding in Lopez-Sanchez, the General Assembly enacted Chapter 260 of the Acts of 2006, which amended § 11-103 to extend victims' rights to file an application for leave to appeal to orders arising from a juvenile proceeding, including disposition hearings under Maryland Code (1974, 2006 Repl. Vol.), Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article, § 3-8A-19. After the Legislature amended § 11-103, our Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules Committee) proposed changes ostensibly to conform the relevant rules to the new legislation. The Rules Committee proposed amending Maryland Rule 8-111 to extend[ ] the right to file an application for leave to appeal to a victim of a [juvenile] delinquent. [19] 158th Report of the Standing Committee on Practice and Procedure, 26 September 2007, available at http: //www.courts.state.md.us/rules/reports/158 thReport.pdf. We adopted the proposed rule changes by a Rules Order dated 4 December 2007. The new subsection (c) of Maryland Rule 8-111 became effective on 1 January 2008. To interpret rules of procedure, we use the same canons and principles of construction used to interpret statutes. State ex rel. Lennon v. Strazzella, 331 Md. 270, 274, 627 A.2d 1055, 1057 (1993). We thus look to the plain meaning of the language employed in these rules and construe that language without forced or subtle interpretations designed to limit or extend its scope. Lee v. State, 332 Md. 654, 658-59, 632 A.2d 1183, 1185 (1993). Subsection (c) of the Rule goes beyond merely ensuring that victims of crimes committed by juveniles are granted the same rights as other crime victims. Subsection (c)(1) alone conforms and carries out the provisions of § 11-103. [20] Section 11-103(b) refers to twelve specific statutory rights granted to victims. If any of those specific statutory rights are violated, the victim may seek leave to appeal. In the present case, however, subsection (c)(1) of Rule 8-111 is not what concerns us. Instead, subsection (c)(2) is implicated. Subsection (c)(2) of Maryland Rule 8-111 permits a victim to participate in the same manner as a party regarding the rights of the victim. . . . This subsection stands as the analog to subsection (c)(1). The two subsections address different contexts: if a victim is aggrieved by an adverse trial court action affecting one or more of the twelve statutory rights referred to in § 11-103(b), subsection (c)(1) applies, and the victim may seek leave to appeal under § 11-103(b); if a victim is content with the implicated trial court action, but a party appeals, the victim may participate in the same manner as a party in that appeal, but only with regard to the victim's rights. Victims' rights under subsection (c)(2) extend only as far as, and are subject to, the same limitations as victims' rights under subsection (c)(1) and § 11-103(b). Our interpretation of subsection (c) of the Rule is supported by the employment in it of the disjunctive connector or between (c)(1) and (c)(2). The word `or' is a disjunctive conjunction which serves to establish a relationship of contrast or opposition. Walker v. Lindsey, 65 Md.App. 402, 407, 500 A.2d 1061, 1064 (1985). Accordingly, subsections (c)(1) and (c)(2) must have been intended to be independent and mutually exclusive provisions applying in the different contexts explicated here. Our construction of Maryland Rule 8-111(c) in this fashion avoids potentially anomalous results. If the level of appellate participation afforded victims under subsection (c)(2) were less than the level of participation potentially afforded under subsection (c)(1), crime victims would be unable in the former to protect their potentially more meritorious claims. A victim seeking to participate in the same manner as a party under subsection (c)(2) in a party's appeal at least has benefitted from a ruling or judgment of the trial court. That ruling, favorable to the victim, could be the subject of an appeal as of right by a party. By contrast, subsection (c)(1) applies where the victim's rights are affected by an unfavorable ruling below and seeks leave to appeal. As noted above, the amendments to Maryland Rule 8-111 go beyond merely carrying out the changes indicated in Chapter 260 of the Acts of 2006. The addition of subsection (c)(2) has the effect of changing further the landscape of a victim's role in appellate criminal proceedings. In other words, the recent amendments to Maryland Rule 8-111 serve as a distinguishing feature between the present case and Maryland precedent where Maryland's appellate courts have restricted more narrowly victims' roles in criminal appeals. See Surland, 392 Md. at 23 n. 1, 895 A.2d at 1037 n. 1 (holding that a homicide victim's parents did not have standing as victims' representatives to file a brief or participate in oral argument in the Court of Appeals); Cianos, 338 Md. at 412, 659 A.2d at 294 (holding that crime victim's relatives lacked standing to appeal sentence); Lamb v. Kontgias, 169 Md.App. 466, 479, 901 A.2d 860, 867 (2006) (holding that the victim had no standing to appeal the lack of notice of, and opportunity to speak at, a hearing to reconsider sentence). This Court previously, by Rule change, altered the landscape of prior caselaw in other areas of the law as well. See, e.g., Committee Note to Maryland Rule 5-607 (noting that the adoption of Maryland Rule 5-607 in 1994 eliminate[d] the common-law voucher rule); Wilson v. Holliday, 364 Md. 589, 598-601, 774 A.2d 1123, 1128-30 (2001) (describing why, following Lynch v. Lynch, 342 Md. 509, 677 A.2d 584 (1996), the Court of Appeals enacted Maryland Rule 15-207(e) governing spousal and child support enforcement through contempt proceedings, abrogating the holding in Lynch); Greco v. State, 347 Md. 423, 433 n. 4, 701 A.2d 419, 423 n. 4 (1997) (noting how Maryland Rule 4-345 had been modified to abrogate the holding in State v. Sayre, 314 Md. 559, 552 A.2d 553 (1989), regarding mistakes in announcing sentence); Kang v. State, 163 Md.App. 22, 44-45, 877 A.2d 173, 185-86 (2005), aff'd, 393 Md. 97, 899 A.2d 843 (2006) (noting that the addition of Maryland Rule 4-323(b) limited the effect of [n]umerous cases of the Court of Appeals by permitting, for the first time, a continuing objection); Hoang v. Hewitt Ave. Assocs., LLC, 177 Md.App. 562, 581, 936 A.2d 915, 926-27 (Such was the state of Maryland law of pleading and damages when the Court of Appeals decided Falcinelli v. Cardascia, 339 Md. 414, 663 A.2d 1256 (1995), and Scott v. Jenkins, 345 Md. 21, 690 A.2d 1000 (1997). Those cases prompted amendments to the Maryland Rules that are important to the issue before us.); Williams v. State, 110 Md.App. 1, 23 n. 6, 675 A.2d 1037, 1048 n. 6 (1996) (noting how Maryland Rule 1-502 [since replaced by Maryland Rule 5-609] altered the admission into evidence convictions of infamous crimes); Moaney v. State, 28 Md.App. 408, 415, 346 A.2d 466, 471 (1975) (The abrogation of the common law right to indictment is clearly shown by the amendments to Rule 709.). In the present case, Palmer was authorized to participate in briefing and oral argument before this Court on 3 April 2008 on the issues that directly and substantially affected her specific statutory rights enumerated in § 11-103(b), as implicated by the parties' certiorari questions. Lopez-Sanchez, 388 Md. at 227, 879 A.2d at 702. In the trial court, Palmer successfully filed and argued a motion to vacate reconsideration of Hoile's sentence based on asserted denial of her rights. Palmer now argues that the motion was necessary in order to protect her rights to be notified, attend, and be heard under § § 11-102, 11-104, 11-403 and 11-503. The resolution of the present appeal on the merits will affect Palmer's direct and substantial interests. Lopez-Sanchez, 388 Md. at 227, 879 A.2d at 702. Therefore, she was permitted to participate in a manner similar to a party, including participating in oral argument and filing a brief. [21]