Articles Posted in Evidence

In a Maryland criminal trial, a jury should only convict the accused if the prosecution has presented evidence proving the accused’s commission of that specific crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Often, the people on trial are folks without spotless records; they may have had multiple prior encounters with the criminal judicial system. Those facts alone don’t make them guilty, though those facts might tempt a jury to find that defendant guilty simply because the jurors decide they dislike the accused. If you’re someone with a criminal past who is on trial again, it is crucial to ensure that you get inadmissible evidence of your past excluded from your case. This is just one of many areas where it pays to have representation from an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer.

These limitations on what the prosecution can do are necessary to avoid confusing jurors, prejudicing them against the accused, and predisposing them to believe the accused is guilty. In other words, the evidence might lead the jury to convict just because they think the accused is a bad person, not because the state offered sufficient proof of the crime charged.

As an example, there’s the Maryland Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the case of F.B., a Baltimore man on trial for felony child abuse.

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When you’re accused of a crime, achieving a successful result may involve many procedural steps. These could include things like pretrial motions (such as a motion to suppress illegally obtained evidence,) in-trial objections (such as opposing the admission of inadmissible hearsay evidence,) post-trial motions, and appeals. To ensure that your rights are protected to the fullest, you need to be sure you have representation from a Maryland criminal defense lawyer with the skills and experience to handle these procedural elements effectively.

A murder case from Montgomery County is a good example. The defendant, H.A.Z., stood accused of killing his married lover’s husband. The state also charged the woman with the murder.

The prosecution chose to try the two together. The Maryland rules allow for this kind of trial if the two defendants are “alleged to have participated in the same act or transaction or in the same series of acts or transactions constituting an offense or offenses.” Sometimes, though, a joint trial would result in unfair prejudice to one or both defendants, in which case the defendants should be tried separately.

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Some things that are ubiquitous parts of our lives today probably would’ve seemed unimaginable 40, 30, or even 20 years ago. That includes developments like smartphones and social media. As technology evolves, so do the methods law enforcement officers use to pursue criminal suspects. Just as with anything else, though, a search of a social media account has the potential to represent a violation of the accused’s Fourth Amendment rights if it wasn’t backed by a valid search warrant. When it comes to getting illegally obtained evidence suppressed (whether that evidence was housed in something as old-fashioned as a bedroom closet or as modern as a TikTok account,) having representation from an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer often can enhance your chances of success.

Many times, this blog covers criminal issues arising from the Maryland courts. Today, we look at a federal criminal case for its insight into police searches of social media accounts.

According to federal prosecutors, T.R. was a member of the Cruddy Conniving Crutballs (a/k/a “Triple C,”) a Baltimore street gang. In the spring of 2021, federal prosecutors charged T.R. and 14 alleged Triple C members with various racketeering, conspiracy, drug, and gun crimes.

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The rules of evidence say that a party may not use hearsay to prove their case (or disprove the other side’s case,) unless that hearsay evidence falls within one or more of several exceptions laid out in the rules. Parsing these exceptions — and keeping potentially harmful
evidence that falls outside these exceptions out of your trial — is a place where having an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer can be vital. Because any criminal trial can come down to what the jury hears — and what they don’t — winning these battles is crucial.

One of those exceptions is something called a “statement against interest.” Maryland Rule 5-804(b)(3) says that hearsay may be admissible if it “so tended to subject the declarant to civil or criminal liability, . . . that a reasonable person in the declarant’s position would not have made the statement unless the person believed it to be true.”

That exception was at the center of a recent drug case from Salisbury. In that case, the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office raided a home in the early morning hours and recovered 69 bags of suspected crack cocaine, 98 suspected bags of heroin, 17 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, a digital scale, and six cell phones.

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Earlier this week, Maryland’s highest court issued a new opinion that made national headlines. The decision imposes necessary new standards on how prosecutors in this state can (and cannot) use ballistics experts. This ruling potentially represents a major aid for people in Maryland who stand accused of crimes involving guns. Whether or not your case involves firearms, a skilled Maryland criminal defense lawyer with fully up-to-date knowledge can be crucial to getting the best possible outcome.

The origin of the case was a murder in Riverdale. Police found the victim dead, having suffered five gunshot wounds, including one to the back of the head. A few days earlier, the police had responded to a disturbance at the same property. The police testified that the accused appeared to be “agitated” and “very aggressive,” and that the other man seemed “terrified.”

After the shooting, the police seized both of the guns belonging to the victim’s roommate — a Glock and a .38 Special. At the roommate’s murder trial, an examiner with the police department’s Firearms Examination Unit testified that, based on markings found on the bullets recovered from the crime scene, the bullets came from the exact .38 that the accused owned.

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When the police destroy evidence that was relevant to your case, that’s potentially a huge problem, as you’ll never know if that proof could have strengthened your case. When that happens — whether the destruction was accidental or intentional — there are steps you can take. When it comes to this and other procedural matters, having an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer on your side can help you maximize the protection of your rights.

Missing evidence was key to one Montgomery County man’s recent criminal case and a reversal of his conviction.

21-year-old E.M. was on trial for the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. In the case’s initial stages, a Montgomery County detective interviewed the girl and her parents. The police department recorded the interviews but later deleted them after the detective made a computer keystroke error that resulted in the failure to preserve the recordings in “indefinite storage.”

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The phrase “mission creep,” which pertains to “the gradual broadening of the original objectives” beyond a task’s original scope, goals, or focus, originated in military circles but has been adopted by much of the business world. A type of mission creep can occur in a police traffic stop, as well. While mission creep in business may cost time or money, mission creep in a traffic stop may cost the suspect his/her constitutional rights. If you were arrested because the police stretched the boundaries of their interaction with you beyond what the law allows, then an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer may be an essential part of getting evidence seized in that stop suppressed.

These sorts of movaing-target traffic stops are regrettably common. A recent drug case from Carroll County shows how a person’s rights can be violated.

On Aug. 11, 2020, a Carroll County sheriff’s deputy was conducting a traffic patrol of Route 140 in Finksburg. Shortly after noon, the deputy observed a car with two men in the front seat both of whom “sat stiff as a board” while avoiding making eye contact with the deputy. Thinking this suspicious, the deputy began following the vehicle to “look for a motor vehicle violation.” The deputy soon thereafter pulled them over for an unsafe lane change.

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Sometimes, in interacting with law enforcement, you may make mistakes. Maybe you said something you shouldn’t have. Maybe you gave the police consent to search when you should’ve declined. Be aware that, even if you made a tactically less-than-ideal choice, there often are still ways to mitigate the damage and protect your rights. An experienced attorney will know how, which is why retaining a knowledgeable Maryland criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible is vital.

A recent criminal case originating in Anne Arundel County illustrates what we mean.

It began with a knock on the door of D.M.’s home. Law enforcement officers questioned D.M. about a suspected upload of illegal content. D.M. signed a written consent allowing law enforcement to search his electronic devices. They collected his devices and, within a few days, made a “mirror-image” copy of his laptop computer’s hard drive.

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Courts, as well as the legal community, are keenly aware of the challenging job that police officers have, Officers daily make split-second decisions while seeking to keep the neighborhoods they serve safe. They also, however, are charged with “respecting the dignity and Constitutional rights of persons they confront.” Sometimes, even skillful officers acting in good faith can step over the line and stop and/or search someone without a proper legal basis. When that happens and criminal charges come from that stop, knowledgeable Maryland criminal defense lawyers are here to vindicate the rights of those accused people.

This is especially true in neighborhoods that are home to high levels of crime, as a recent weapons case from Southwest Baltimore demonstrates.

Two city police officers, while on foot patrol in a high-crime area, spotted a man who they thought was acting suspiciously. Essentially, what they knew was this: the man, L.B., walked with his right arm swinging “freely” while he kept his left arm “braced against his side.” While the man was inside a convenience store, they spotted a “bulge in the front of his waistband.”

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Sometimes, law enforcement officers engage in clever maneuvers to get suspects to talk and provide information that incriminates them. There are certain ways to avoid falling into these traps. One is to make sure that you avoid making a statement to — or in the presence of — an officer without having first consulted an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer and, two, whenever possible, to get those potentially incriminating statements suppressed.

The crux, of course, is that the statements you make without counsel can be highly damaging. Consider the assault case of S.B., who led police on a high-speed chase through two counties.

After officers disabled the man’s vehicle with spike sticks, they attempted to arrest him. However, the man successfully fought off officers for several minutes before they, aided by a Talbot County sheriff’s K-9 unit, finally subdued and arrested him.

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