Court Opinion

ID: 9756783
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:55:27.55309+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:30.357964
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
BATTAGLIA, J.,
which GREENE, J., Joins.
I respectfully dissent because the majority reaches the merits of the case, although we never granted certiorari.
Arrington filed a “Motion to Reopen Postconviction Proceeding and For New Trial” pursuant to former Section 8-201 of the Criminal Procedure Article, Maryland Code (2001, 2008 Repl.Vol.),1 after a DNA test reflected that blood on clothing that he owned could not have come from the victim, alleging that he was entitled to a new trial for the crime of second degree murder for which he had been convicted because the jury was misled into believing that the scientific evidence presented at trial was inculpatory, because there was a significant likelihood that he would not have been convicted if the DNA evidence had been available at the time of his trial, and because his trial attorney was ineffective. Judge Katherine Savage held a hearing on the motion and ordered “that *557[Arrington’s] Motion to Reopen Postconviction Proceeding (DE # 216) is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART — DENIED as to the ineffective assistance of counsel claim; GRANTED as to the newly discovered DNA evidence; and it is further ORDERED that [Arrington’s] Motion for a New Trial (DE #217) is hereby DENIED.” (emphasis in original). Thereafter, Arrington filed with the Court of Special Appeals an Application for Leave to Appeal, a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeals.
The Court of Special Appeals thereafter denied Arrington’s Application for Leave to Appeal, but six months later, on its own initiative, ordered Arrington’s counsel to show cause why it should not dismiss the direct appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, stay the direct appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and/or transfer the matter to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings “upon direct appeal” to the Court of Appeals. Arrington filed a response arguing that the court should transfer the case to the Court of Appeals to be handled as a direct appeal pursuant to Section 8-201(j)(6) of the Criminal Procedure Article. Thereupon, the Court of Special Appeals purportedly transferred the case to this Court:
ORDERED, pursuant to Maryland Rule 8-132 and CP § 8-201(j)(6), that [Arrington’s] April 5, 2007 notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals in the above-captioned action is hereby transferred to the Court of Appeals of Maryland; and, it is further
ORDERED that, pending the conclusion of proceedings in the Court of Appeals on the matter being transferred, all further proceedings in this Court are hereby STAYED concerning (a) [Arrington’s] April 5, 2007 direct appeal to this Court, (b) [Arrington’s] April 5, 2007 application for leave to appeal to this Court.
We, however, were not presented with a petition for certiorari in this case, unlike that which we granted in Thompson v. State, 395 Md. 240, 909 A.2d 1035 (2006). The majority, in treating the present case as identical to Thompson, however, *558has failed to acknowledge the difference between our exclusive jurisdiction, when the Legislature mandates that we take a case on direct appeal, and our discretionary jurisdiction, when we may take an appeal, either before or after the Court of Special Appeals has acted. Our jurisdiction in cases such as the present under Section 8-201 can only be exercised under a certiorari grant, which did not occur in the present case.
Our jurisdiction to entertain a case is wholly statutory, and our ability to entertain an appeal must be legislatively granted.2 See Rogers v. Eastport Yachting Ctr., LLC, 408 Md. 722, 732, 971 A.2d 322, 328 (2009); Fuller v. State, 397 Md. 372, 382, 918 A.2d 453, 459 (2007); Pack Shack, Inc. v. Howard County, 371 Md. 243, 247, 808 A.2d 795, 797 (2002); Prince George’s County v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 358 Md. 166, 173, 747 A.2d 647, 651 (2000); Gisriel v. Ocean City Bd. of Supervisors of Elections, 345 Md. 477, 485, 693 A.2d 757, 761 (1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1053, 118 S.Ct. 702, 139 L.Ed.2d 645 (1998). In 1966, a constitutional amendment added Section 14A to Article IV of the Constitution3 providing the Legislature with a general grant of power to “create such intermediate courts of appeal, as may be necessary” and to “prescribe the intermediate appellate jurisdiction of these courts of appeal, and all other powers necessary for the operation of such courts.” In Department of Human Resources v. Howard, 397 Md. 353, 918 A.2d 441 (2007), Judge Harrell explicated the “genesis” of the Court of Special Appeals:
*559Creation of the Court of Special Appeals was authorized by a constitutional amendment approved by the General Assembly on 23 March 1966 and ratified by the electorate on 8 November 1966 as Article IV, § 14A of the Maryland Constitution, which bestowed on the Legislature the power to “create such intermediate courts of appeal, as may be necessary” by statute and prescribe their jurisdiction and powers. Chapter 10, § 1 of the Acts of 1966. Pursuant to that constitutional amendment, the General Assembly created, by statute, the Court of Special Appeals as the second ever intermediate appellate court in Maryland. Chapter 11, § 1 of the Acts of 1966 (codified at Md.Code (1957, 1966 RepLVol.), Art. 26, § 130 and recodified at Cts. & Jud. Proc. Article, § 1-401). At the time of its nativity, the intermediate appellate court’s jurisdiction was limited to criminal matters involving sentences other than death. Md.Code (1957, 1966 RepLVol.), Art. 26, § 130. The court was composed of only five members, hearing and deciding cases as a full court at that time. Id. Pour years later, however, the General Assembly expanded the Court of Special Appeals’s jurisdiction to include certain civil matters, concomitantly increasing its size to nine members hearing cases in panels of no less than three judges. Chapter 99, § 1 of the Acts of 1970. Along with the expansion, the Legislature empowered the court to hear and decide cases in banc by a majority vote of the judges of the court. Id. Within the ensuing seven years, the size of the intermediate appellate court was expanded on three more occasions: to 10 judges in 1973, 12 judges in 1974, and to the now familiar number of 13 judges in 1977.
Id. at 360-61, 918 A.2d at 445-46 (footnotes omitted). The purpose for the creation of the Court of Special Appeals was to “relieve [the Court of Appeals] of the substantial increase of criminal appeals which had inundated the Court and yet provide at least one appeal as of right....” Walston v. Sun Cab Co., 267 Md. 559, 565, 298 A.2d 391, 395 (1973). Presently, the Court of Special Appeals has “exclusive initial appellate jurisdiction over any reviewable judgment, decree, order or *560other action of a circuit court, and an orphans’ court.” Section 12-308 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, Maryland Code (1973, 2006 Repl.Vol.).4 Our jurisdiction is defined in Sections 12-3015 and 12-3076 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article for the review of “final” and “reviewable” judgments. Without a grant of jurisdiction from the Legislature, we are powerless to review the judgment of a lower court, and parties cannot confer jurisdiction by consent. Rush v. State, 403 Md. 68, 97-99, 939 A.2d 689, 705-07 (2008) (recounting our long history of narrowly construing our appellate authority).
*561The certiorari process generally defines how we reach a case. See Sections 12-201, 12-305, and 12-307 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.7 The purpose of the process is to enable us to control our caseload by accepting only those cases that have substantial precedential value or are “desirable and in the public interest____” Section 12-203 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.8 Conversely, there are situations in which a certiorari petition is not necessary and our exclusive jurisdiction mandates that we entertain an individual’s appeal. We are commanded to hear appeals of a *562convicted person upon whom the death penalty has been imposed, see Section 2-401(d) of the Criminal Law Article, Maryland Code (2002, 2009 Supp.) (“In addition to any error properly before the Court on appeal, the Court of Appeals shall consider the imposition of the death sentence.”) (emphasis added); Section 12-307(4) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article (“The Court of Appeals has ... [exclusive appellate jurisdiction over a criminal case in which the death penalty is imposed____”). We also have exclusive appellate jurisdiction in reviewing circuit court decisions approving transfers of assets of savings and loan associations, see Section 9-712(d)(2) of the Financial Institutions Article, Maryland Code (1980, 2003 Repl.Vol.) (“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Court of Appeals shall have exclusive and plenary jurisdiction over an appeal of any order of a State court approving a transaction under subsection (b) or (c) of this section.”) (emphasis added); the legislative districting of the State that occurs after each Census, see Maryland Constitution, Article III Section 5 (“Upon petition of any registered voter, the Court of Appeals shall have original jurisdiction to review the legislative districting of the State and may grant appropriate relief, if it finds that the districting of the State is not consistent with requirements of either the Constitution of the United States of America, or the Constitution of Maryland.”) (emphasis added); and reviewing circuit court decisions regarding contested elections, see Section 12-203(a)(3) of the Election Law Article, Maryland Code (2003) (“A proceeding under this subtitle shall be conducted in accordance with the Maryland Rules, except that ... an appeal shall be taken directly to the Court of Appeals within 5 days of the date of the decision of the circuit court.”) (emphasis added). In each situation, the Legislature has mandated that the appeal “shall” be taken to this Court, which is not the case in the post-conviction DNA area, where the language of the statute provides, “An appeal to the court of appeals may be taken from an order entered under this section.” Section 8-201(k)(6) of the Criminal Procedure Article.
*563Juxtaposed against the exercise of our exclusive jurisdiction and power to entertain appeals through the certiorari process is the exercise of our jurisdiction in traditional post-conviction cases in which convicted persons, who are still incarcerated, on parole, or on probation, have the ability under the Maryland Uniform Post Conviction Procedure Act to collaterally attack a judgment by challenging alleged constitutional, jurisdictional, or other fundamental violations that occurred at trial. See Section 7-102 of the Criminal Procedure Article, Maryland Code (2001, 2008 Repl.Vol.);9 Mosley v. State, 378 Md. 548, 559-60, 836 A.2d 678, 684-85 (2003) (explaining that a post-conviction proceeding is the most appropriate way to raise the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel), citing Maryland State Bar Ass’n v. Kerr, 272 Md. 687, 689-90, 326 A.2d 180, 181 (1974) (explaining that a post-conviction proceeding in Maryland does not constitute a part of the original criminal cause, but is an independent and collateral civil inquiry into the validity of the conviction and sentence) (quotations omitted).10
*564In a traditional post-conviction case, when an inmate’s petition for relief under the Maryland Uniform Post Conviction Procedure Act is denied by a circuit court, he or she must file an Application for Leave to Appeal in the Court of Special Appeals. See Section 7-109 of the Criminal Procedure Article, Maryland Code (2001, 2008 Repl.Vol.);11 Coleman v. Warden, 239 Md. 711, 712, 212 A.2d 463, 463 (1965) (“[N]o appeal as of right lies from the denial of post conviction relief; review may be sought only by way of an application for leave to appeal.”); Bulluck v. Warden, 220 Md. 658, 659, 152 A.2d 184, 184 (1959) (“It is not one of the purposes of the Post Conviction Procedure Act to grant an additional and fully repetitious appeal.”). If the Court of Special Appeals summarily denies the Application, we are not empowered to entertain a review of the denial or grant. See Section 12-202 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.12 See also Grayson v. State, 354 Md. 1, 12, 728 A.2d 1280, 1285 (1999); Cianos v. State, 338 Md. 406, 407, 659 A.2d 291, 292 (1995); Sherman v. State, 323 Md. 310, *565311, 593 A.2d 670, 670 (1991) vacated in part on other grounds, 1991 Md. LEXIS 197 (1991); Williams v. State, 292 Md. 201, 208-11, 438 A.2d 1301, 1304-05 (1981). Only when an Application for Leave to Appeal is granted and the merits reached by the Court of Special Appeals can we entertain the case, and only then after the grant of a petition for certiorari.13
This traditional process was altered in 2001 in cases in which DNA may be involved, however, when the Legislature enacted the DNA Post Conviction Act for the purpose of authorizing persons convicted of manslaughter, murder in any degree, or first or second degree rape or sexual offense to file a petition for postconviction DNA testing of certain evidence under certain circumstances. The DNA Post Conviction Act, as codified in Section 8-201 of the Criminal Procedure Article, gives various incarcerated persons the opportunity to file a petition for DNA testing “[n]otwithstanding any other law governing postconviction relief.” This, however, did not mandate that we entertain DNA cases on an exclusive basis, before any direct appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. The statute, rather, eliminated the Application for Leave to Appeal process in the Court of Special Appeals, thereby streamlining the DNA process to appeal in the Court of Special Appeals from which an inmate “may” appeal to our Court. The Legislature did not mandate that we entertain each case, as it has done in the past, using explicit “shall” language.14 Rather, *566the permissive language of amended Section 8-201(k)(6) of the Criminal Procedure Article, which states that “[a]n appeal to the court of appeals may be taken from an order entered under this section,” does not obviate Court of Special Appeals jurisdiction but, rather, permits a defendant to file a direct appeal to the Court of Special Appeals rather than file an Application for Leave to Appeal, and thereafter permits the review by this Court through the certiorari process, which was not invoked in the present case.15
When the DNA post-conviction court denied a new trial, Arrington chose to pursue the traditional post-conviction appellate route. He did not file a petition for -writ of certiorari with us, as he could have done pursuant to Section 8-201(k)(6). He chose instead to file an Application for Leave to Appeal with the Court of Special Appeals and then a direct appeal, which the Court of Special Appeals must entertain. Our exercise of jurisdiction should await another day, if “desirable and in the public interest.”
Judge GREENE has authorized me to state that he joins in the views expressed in this dissenting opinion.

. All references to the Criminal Procedure Article are to Maryland Code (2001, 2008 Repl.Vol., 2009 Supp.), unless otherwise noted. The 2008 Replacement Volume includes three versions of Section 8-201, and the 2009 Supplement includes two versions of Section 8-201. We use the word "former” to refer to the first alliteration of Section 8-201, which was enacted in 2001 and amended in 2002, 2003, and 2004. We use the word "amended” to refer to the second version of Section 8-201, which was amended by Chapter 337 of the Maryland Laws of 2008, and became effective January 1, 2009. The third version of Section 8-201 becomes effective December 31, 2013.

. "Appellate jurisdiction” is defined in Section 12-101 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, Maryland Code (1973, 2006 Repl. Vol.), as "jurisdiction exercised by an appellate court.” An "appellate court” is defined in the same subsection as "any court which reviews a final judgment of another court, and includes any court authorized to enter judgment following a de novo trial on appeal of a case or proceeding previously tried in another court.”

. Section 14A of Article IV of the Constitution provides:
The General Assembly may by law create such intermediate courts of appeal, as may be necessary. The General Assembly may prescribe the intermediate appellate jurisdiction of these courts of appeal, and all other powers necessary for the operation of such courts.

. Section 12-308 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides:
Except as provided in § 12-307 of this subtitle, the Court of Special Appeals has exclusive initial appellate jurisdiction over any reviewable judgment, decree, order or other action of a circuit court, and an orphans’ court.
All references to the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article are to Maryland Code (1973, 2006 Repl.Vol.), unless otherwise noted.

. Section 12-301 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides:
Except as provided in § 12-302 of this subtitle, a party may appeal from a final judgment entered in a civil or criminal case by a circuit court. The right of appeal exists from a final judgment entered by a court in the exercise of original, special, limited, statutory jurisdiction, unless in a particular case the right of appeal is expressly denied by law. In a criminal case, the defendant may appeal even though imposition or execution of sentence has been suspended. In a civil case, a plaintiff who has accepted a remittitur may cross-appeal from the final judgment.

. Section 12-307 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides:
The Court of Appeals has:
(1) Jurisdiction to review a case or proceeding pending in or decided by the Court of Special Appeals in accordance with Subtitle 2 of this title;
(2) Jurisdiction to review a case or proceeding decided by a circuit court, in accordance with § 12-305 of this subtitle;
(3) Exclusive appellate jurisdiction with respect to a question of law certified to it under the Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act; and
(4) Exclusive appellate jurisdiction over a criminal case in which the death penalty is imposed and any appellate proceeding under § 3-904 of the Correctional Services Article.

. Section 12-201 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides:
Except as provided in § 12-202 of this subtitle, in any case or proceeding pending in or decided by the Court of Special Appeals upon appeal from a circuit court or an orphans’ court or the Maryland Tax Court, any party, including the State, may file in the Court of Appeals a petition for certiorari to review the case or proceeding. The petition may be filed either before or after the Court of Special Appeals has rendered a decision, but not later than the time prescribed by the Maryland Rules. In a case or proceeding described in this section, the Court of Appeals also may issue the writ of certiorari on its own motion.
Section 12-305 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides:
The Court of Appeals shall require by writ of certiorari that a decision be certified to it for review and determination in any case in which a circuit court has rendered a final judgment on appeal from the District Court or has rendered a final judgment on appeal from an administrative decision under Title 16 of the Transportation Article if it appears to the Court of Appeals, upon petition of a party that:
(1) Review is necessary to secure uniformity of decision, as where the same statute has been construed differently by two or more judges; or
(2) There are other special circumstances rendering it desirable and in the public interest that the decision be reviewed.

. Section 12-203 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides in pertinent part:
If the Court of Appeals finds that review of the case described in § 12-201 of this subtitle is desirable and in the public interest, the Court of Appeals shall require by writ of certiorari that the case be certified to it for review and determination. The writ may issue before or after the Court of Special Appeals has rendered a decision. The Court of Appeals may by rule provide for the number of its judges who must concur to grant the writ of certiorari in any case, but that number may not exceed three. Reasons for the denial of the writ shall be in writing.

. Section 7-102 of the Criminal Procedure Article provides:
(a) In general. — Subject to subsection (b) of this section, §§ 7-103 and 7-104 of this subtitle and Subtitle 2 of this title, a convicted person may begin a proceeding under this title in the circuit court for the county in which the conviction took place at any time if the person claims that:
(1) the sentence or judgment was imposed in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution or laws of the State;
(2) the court lacked jurisdiction to impose the sentence;
(3) the sentence exceeds the maximum allowed by law; or
(4) the sentence is otherwise subject to collateral attack on a ground of alleged error that would otherwise be available under a writ of habeas corpus, writ of coram nobis, or other common law or statutory remedy.
(b) Requirements to begin proceeding. — A person may begin a proceeding under this title if:
(1) the person seeks to set aside or correct the judgment or sentence; and
(2) the alleged error has not been previously and finally litigated or waived in the proceeding resulting in the conviction or in any other proceeding that the person has taken to secure relief from the person’s conviction.

. For a history of the Maryland Uniform Post Conviction Procedure Act, see Gluckstern v. Sutton, 319 Md. 634, 658, 574 A.2d 898, 909 *564(1990) ("The purpose of the Post Conviction Procedure Act was to create a simple statutory procedure, in place of the common law habeas corpus and coram nobis remedies, for collateral attacks upon criminal convictions and sentences."); Smith v. State, 115 Md.App. 614, 622, 694 A.2d 182, 186 (1997) ("When the Post Conviction Procedure Act first was adopted in 1958, it was intended to supplant the then existing remedies of habeas corpus and coram nobis."), citing Edward A. Tomlinson, Post-Conviction in Maryland: Past, Present and Future, 45 Md. L.Rev. 927, 932-35 (1986); see also Michael A. Millemann, Collateral Remedies in Criminal Cases in Maryland: An Assessment, 64 Md. L.Rev. 968 (2005).

. Section 7-109 of the Criminal Procedure Article provides in pertinent part:
(a) Application. — Within 30 days after the court passes an order in accordance with this subtitle, a person aggrieved by the order, including the Attorney General and a State’s Attorney, may apply to the Court of Special Appeals for leave to appeal the order.

. Section 12-202 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article provides in pertinent part:
A review by way of certiorari may not be granted by the Court of Appeals in a case or proceeding in which the Court of Special Appeals has denied or granted:
(1) Leave to prosecute an appeal in a post conviction proceeding.

. In Williams v. State, 292 Md. 201, 208-11, 438 A.2d 1301, 1304-05 (1981), we held that once the Court of Special Appeals granted leave to appeal in a post-conviction case and rendered a decision on the merits, we had jurisdiction under Section 12-201 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article to grant certiorari and review the Court of Special Appeals’ decision. We reaffirmed our holdings in Jourdan v. State, 275 Md. 495, 341 A.2d 388 (1975) and Moss v. Director, 279 Md. 561, 369 A.2d 1011 (1977), in which we held that the limitation upon our Court's jurisdiction set forth in Section 12-202 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article related only to the action of the Court of Special Appeals in granting or denying an application for leave to appeal and not that court’s decision on the merits. Id. at 210-11, 438 A.2d at 1305.

. The majority claims that Rule 8-301 supports its contention that our certiorari process need not be followed when a "direct appeal” is *566allowed by law, thereby conflating direct appeal with exclusive jurisdiction. The Rule, however, does not inform the process in a DNA case. Where the Legislature has mandated our exercise of exclusive jurisdiction, whereby the Court of Special Appeals is totally bypassed and we must take the case, it has done so explicitly, not as was done here.

. Even when we have granted certiorari, we have dismissed cases or declined to reach the merits upon finding we had no jurisdiction. See, e.g., Laurel Racing Ass’n, Inc. v. Video Lottery Facility Location Comm’n, 409 Md. 445, 469, 975 A.2d 894, 908 (2009) (dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies); Maryland Dep't of the Env’t v. Klein/Wachter Props., LLC, 408 Md. 230, 230, 969 A.2d 277, 277 (2009) (dismissed for mootness); Ochs v. Hayward, 407 Md. 231, 231, 964 A.2d 649, 649 (2009) (dismissed for improvidently granting certiorari); Safety Nat'l v. State, 403 Md. 302, 303, 941 A.2d 1102, 1103 (2008) (dismissed pursuant to Rule 8-504(c) for appellant’s failure to properly prepare brief in compliance with Rule 8-504(a)(5)); Holbrook v. State, 364 Md. 354, 375, 772 A.2d 1240, 1252 (2001) (dismissed third argument in brief for failure to preserve pursuant to Rule 8-131(b)).