GRANT AGBARA LEWIS v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Appeals of Maryland, Watts, April 24, 2017,
Out of State Witness – An out-of-state witness charged with a crime waives his right to avoid arrest under CJP 9-304 if he waits until after he is convicted to raise the issue.
True to form, Judge Watts delivers a 10-page opinion in 41-page form. I’ll spot her the interesting facts, but the CoSA did it in 23 pages…
Facts:
Lewis and his friend Bennett lived in Colorado and decided to offer themselves up online as professional hit men. When a man in Dundalk contacted them to perform a murder for hire, Bennett flew out to collect the money. Bennett ended up murdering their client’s girlfriend, but was not paid and was eventually charged with the murder.
Lewis was brought into Maryland from Colorado under CJP 9-303, ordering an out-of-state witness to come to Maryland. Under CJP 9-304, he was given immunity from arrest and service for events occurring before he got there.
Once Lewis was in the state for the trial, Bennett pled guilty and agreed to testify against Lewis. He made a statement implicating Lewis in the murder, and Lewis was arrested.
Lewis was eventually convicted of first-degree murder, but never brought up his immunity from arrest under CJP 9-304 until appeal following his conviction.
On appeal, he claimed that his entire trial and conviction never should have happened because he was immune from arrest.
Legal:
Held: The Court disagreed, holding that he waived his right to avoid arrest by not raising it earlier.
Out-of-State Witnesses- Under CJP 9-303, if a Maryland judge issues a certificate that a material witness is needed for trial in Maryland, that certificate may be sent to the jurisdiction where the witness is found and a court there can either order that witness be taken into custody and delivered to Maryland or grant bail on the condition that the witness show up for court in Maryland.
Out-of-State Witnesses- If a witness is forced to come to Maryland under CJP 9-303, they are immune from arrest and service of process for events which occurred prior to them being brought to Maryland for the trial.
Note: They are NOT immune from arrest for things that happen while they are in Maryland for the trial.