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The Juvenile Restoration Act (JRA): A second look for individuals who were convicted of crimes committed when they were children.
On October 1, 2021, the Juvenile Restoration Act will take effect. First, the JRA bans Life Without Parole in Maryland for children. Second, it permits the sentencing court to sentence below the mandatory minimum for crimes committed when the person was a child. In...
The Mailbox Rule
The mailbox rule means that a pleading is deemed to be filed on the day it is mailed and not the date that it is received by the clerk. In 2018, the Maryland Court of Appeals officially adopted the "mailbox rule" for unrepresented inmates in post conviction...
Part 2: The Alibi Issue
It is our opinion that, if McClain's testimony had been presented to the jury, it would have "alter[ed] the entire evidentiary picture," because her testimony would have placed Syed at the Woodlawn Public Library at the time the State claimed that Syed murdered Hae....
Part 1: Syed v. State: The Significance of the Latest Decision by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals
Because Syed has proven the performance and prejudice prongs of the Strickland test, we conclude that his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel has been established. Accordingly, Syed's murder conviction must be vacated, and because Syed's convictions for...
Oral Argument in State of Maryland v. Adnan Syed:
I wanted to get this out sooner, but I've been swamped with my own cases. By now, much has already been written and discussed regarding oral argument in State v. Syed. Journalists published their articles that day and you can now purchase an audio of the arguments...
Adnan Syed and the Appeal of the Post Conviction Decision:
As you know, on June 30, 2016, the post conviction court vacated Adnan Syed's convictions and granted him a new trial. The post conviction court found that Syed's trial counsel's failure to cross examine the State's expert on the unreliability of incoming call cell...