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Recent Development: Givens V. State: Preservation Of Allegedly Inconsistent Jury Verdicts In A Criminal Trial Must Be Made By Objection Before The Verdicts Are Rendered Final And The Jury Is Dismissed, Nicholas Mastracci
University of Baltimore Law Forum
The Court of Appeals of Maryland held that a defendant waives review of any issue as to allegedly inconsistent verdicts by failing to object before the verdicts become final and the court discharges the jury. Givens v. State, 449 Md. 433, 486, 144 A.3d 717, 748 (2016). Although the defendant in this case did not request plain error review, the court stated that the alleged inconsistent verdicts were not clear and obvious; therefore the four-factor plain error test was not met. Id. at 482, 144 A.3d at 746.
On November 15, 2011, several people including Dominic Givens ("Givens"), pulled up …
Recent Development: Colvin V. State: Not Polling The Jury Foreperson Individually After Announcing The Jury's Verdict Is A Procedural Error, Which Does Not Rise To The Level Of A Cognizable Claim Under Maryland Rule 4-345(A), Kayla M. Dinuccio
University of Baltimore Law Forum
The Court of Appeals of Maryland held that a motion to correct an illegal sentence can only be granted if the error is based on substantive law. Colvin v. State, 450 Md. 718, 728, 150 A.3d 850, 856 (2016). Not polling the jury foreperson after she announced the jury's verdicts was a procedural error, and thus not one of the limited exceptions to correct an illegal sentence under Maryland Rule 4-345(a). Id. at 726-27, 150 A.3d at 855-56. In 1989, Roderick Colvin ("Colvin") was tried before a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on numerous charges, including murder …