Supreme Court of Maryland

The Court held that an employee’s knowing creation of a dangerous condition satisfies the knowledge element of an invitee’s premises-liability claim. Because a jury could find that DARCARS failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or warn of the wet-floor hazard created during an assigned task, the Court affirmed the…

In a per curiam order, the Supreme Court of Maryland granted six consolidated petitions for certiorari filed by the Maryland Department of Health challenging non-monetary sanctions imposed by the Circuit Court for Baltimore County after the Department failed to admit incompetent-to-stand-trial-and-dangerous (IST)…

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed the denial of Andrew Founds' motion to suppress and his convictions for possession of over fifty pounds of marijuana, possession of psilocyn with intent to distribute, and possession of bulletproof body armor.

The Maryland Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Court's judgment and remanded the case, holding that private nuisance liability requires proof of wrongful conduct—either negligent, reckless, abnormally dangerous, or a continuous/recurrent intrusion—and that a single one‑day sewer backup does not satisfy the…

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed the convictions, holding that the defendant preserved his challenge to the other-acts evidence sufficiently for review and that evidence involving his daughter's friends was admissible under the common scheme or plan exception.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that a defendant who disclaims any objection to 'the science' of firearms identification and confines his objection to an as-applied challenge waives any later Abruquah claim, and that failing to file a written Daubert motion under Maryland Rule 4-252 independently defeats…

The Supreme Court of Maryland indefinitely suspended attorney Sara Mohamed Samy El-Shall after concluding that she violated MARPC Rules 1.3, 1.4(a) and (b), 1.16(d), 8.1(b), and 8.4(a) and (d) by effectively abandoning three workers' compensation clients and repeatedly failing to respond to Bar Counsel's investigative…

The Court held that the appeal was moot because the CINA proceedings had ended and custody had been returned to K.B.'s grandmother, but it reached the merits under the public-importance exception because the issue could affect an identifiable group of children in CINA proceedings.

The Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment preventing a referendum on the county's data-center zoning ordinance. It held that the ordinance was not a law subject to referendum because the Charter preserved the preexisting treatment of zoning ordinances under the Land Use Article, and independently held that the…

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine did not bar a Maryland religious corporation's wrongful detainer action to reclaim its parsonage from a defrocked bishop, because the dispute could be resolved under neutral principles of Maryland property law without deciding any question…

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that sufficiency challenges in all criminal cases are governed by the same rational-factfinder standard, regardless of whether the evidence is direct or circumstantial.

The court held that a juvenile court retains jurisdiction over a child aged ten to twelve when a delinquency petition alleges a crime of violence and related offenses arising from the same incident, even if the crime-of-violence allegation is later not sustained.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the voluntariness requirement and the associated pattern jury instruction apply to a defendant's custodial statement regardless of whether the State offers it for impeachment or the statement is facially exculpatory, rejecting two of the Appellate Court's rationales.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that specified transmission and distribution equipment used to transform electricity's voltage qualifies for the sales-and-use-tax production-activity exemption, and that the Tax Court's finding of direct and predominant use was supported by substantial evidence.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that a circuit court hearing a de novo appeal from a District Court protective order may issue intervening protective orders while the appeal is pending.

The Supreme Court of Maryland upheld the Commission’s findings that Judge Knapp engaged in sanctionable conduct, including unauthorized recordings, intentional deletion of evidence in police presence, persistent discourtesy and hostility, bias-related conduct, disparagement of the Judiciary, and failure to cooperate…

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed sanctions imposed against the Department for delaying placement of defendants found incompetent to stand trial and dangerous in designated treatment facilities.

The court affirmed the judgment sustaining CINA neglect after a mother surrendered her unharmed newborn twins under the Safe Haven Act. It held that the surrender may constitute neglect when, upon hospital discharge, the children lack a legal custodian and long-term care arrangements, creating a substantial risk of…

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative claim brought on behalf of two closed-end funds against their investment adviser and board of directors, holding that the shareholders failed to plead demand futility.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the circuit court abused its discretion in reducing Sugarloaf Alliance's reasonable attorneys' fee request without demonstrating that it applied the required lodestar factors and by relying on improper considerations.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that a judgment-debtor’s payment of the judgment after a sheriff’s sale does not invalidate or vacate the sale before ratification. The payment is not an irregularity in the sale cognizable under the post-sale exceptions procedure because it concerns the judgment rather than the…

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the Local Government Tort Claims Act damages cap does not apply generally to state statutory claims sounding in tort, but attaches to a specific statutory tort claim where the governing scheme shows no legislative determination about local government liability.

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed dismissal of a malicious use of process class action brought by two homeowners associations and their board members who had defeated a developer's SLAPP under CJP § 5-807.

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed the circuit court's judgment disqualifying John Calvin Dove, Jr. from the Democratic primary ballot for House of Delegates District 12B. The Court held that under CJ § 6-402(b) a continuance is mandatory only when a legislator-attorney of record moves before the legislative…

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the household exclusion in the automobile insurance policy limits the adult children's recovery on their wrongful death claims to the Maryland statutory minimum.

The court reversed the intermediate appellate court’s reversal of Thornton’s and Dunbar’s convictions because admission of the firearms examiner’s unqualified opinion was not clear or obvious error under plain-error review, particularly given the unsettled law and the absence of a Daubert record.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the reunification plan arising presumptively when a CINA child is removed from the home at disposition is not a permanency plan determined under the governing permanency-plan statute.

The Court held that an order denying a State agency's claim of complete sovereign immunity is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine when the order presents a pure legal question and satisfies the doctrine's other requirements.

The Court held that, because the jury found only negligence and no malice or gross negligence by the individual State employees, the Maryland Tort Claims Act required judgment against the State alone, subject to the statutory waiver limit.

The court held that the landlord failed to prove that the United States had accepted exclusive jurisdiction over the property under the Enclave Clause and applicable federal law.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions, holding that the detective’s testimony about the Verizon record and the Kik chat logs was admissible as lay testimony under Rule 5-701, that the brief IPv4/IPv6 testimony required expert qualification but was harmless error, and that the State proved guilt beyond a…

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that a borrower who knows or reasonably should know of a defense to a lienholder’s right to foreclose must raise it before the foreclosure sale under Maryland Rule 14-211, including defenses based on fraud, invalidity, or satisfaction of the debt.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that placing Singh in the back of a patrol car did not automatically convert his lawful investigatory detention into a de facto arrest. Considering the totality of the circumstances, the detention was reasonable because officers were investigating a fatal collision, acted without…

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that police lacked reasonable suspicion to stop Kopp’s vehicle based on a personal acquaintance’s unrecorded report of an unfamiliar car and suspected illegal activity.

The court held that a commercial lease may waive the tenant’s statutory post-judgment right of redemption because the governing statute permits contractual variation and does not prohibit such a waiver in nonresidential leases.

The Court affirmed the denial of Miguel Angel Santana’s motion to dismiss a third prosecution after his second trial ended in a defense-requested mistrial. Assuming without deciding that Maryland common law bars retrial when the State recklessly causes such a mistrial, the Court held that the circuit court’s finding…

The Court held that Montgomery County's firearm amendments were partly expressly or conflict-preempted, and that the amended prohibition on firearm possession within 100 yards of places of public assembly was not a valid local law insofar as it applied to permit holders traveling on public highways.

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the Governor constitutionally authorized the Office of the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute broad categories of crimes, including child sexual abuse, under Article V, § 3(a)(2).

The Court held that the Skippers have standing to pursue their putative class action because CareFirst’s tender of individual relief did not moot the case before the class representative could seek certification, and that the policy’s Exclusion 16.11 does not bar coverage of medically necessary IVF expenses such as…

The Supreme Court of Maryland answered a certified question that, in an asbestos-related strict-liability design-defect action, a household member exposed to asbestos dust carried home on a consumer's or user's work clothing need not prove a separate duty element.