PAUL EARNEST HOWARD, JR. v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Special Appeals, Eyler, Jan. 31, 2017,
Due Process- Discovery- Even if a court can force a third party to allow the defense onto their property as part of criminal discovery, the defendant must first demonstrate that their need outweighs the privacy interests of the third party.
Case refiled on March 28, 2017. But I have no idea what changed. Nothing I noticed.
Facts: Howard knocked on the victim’s (a 98-year-old woman) and told her that he would repair her roof. When she let him in, he had her give him all of her cash and write him a check. He then returned and asked her for more money. She said that she didn’t have any, so he went upstairs and found money in an envelope. He took the money, but left the envelope. When she asked him to leave, he threw her to the ground (breaking her hip), assaulted her, and attempted to rape her. She bit him, drawing blood, and pressed her medical alert button. The fire department arrived on scene, at which point Howard fled.
Crime scene technicians took 113 photographs of the scene, and both latents and blood were recovered.
Prior to trial, the defense tried to get the judge to compel the victim to allow the defense attorney into her home, but the judge refused.
Equitable Bill of Discovery- In a civil lawsuit, a court may compel the present owner of a building to make it accessible to a party to a lawsuit. To obtain this, a party must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the information the party is seeking to discover is material and necessary; that the party has no other adequate means to obtain that information; that the party’s right of access to the premises outweighs the privacy right of the owners and the occupants of the property; and that issuance of an equitable bill of discovery will not impose an unreasonable hardship upon the owner or any occupant of the premises.
There is no Equitable Bill of Discovery in a criminal case
Due Process- Before a trial court may exercise discretion to compel a third party in possession or control of real property to make it available for
inspection pre-trial by the defense in a criminal case, the defendant must show that he needs to make such an inspection to obtain material relevant and material to his defense. And, once that showing of need is made, the court must balance that need against the privacy interests of the third party.
Burglary- Felony burglary charges require both a breaking and an entering. There are two types of breaking: actual breaking and constructive breaking.
Actual breaking means the creation of an enlargement or an opening, such as breaking or opening a window or pushing open a door. Constructive breaking means gaining entry by fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, trick or force.
False Imprisonment- Unlawful detention of a person against their will.
From the case: a reasonable juror could conclude that Howard’s separate acts of holding [the victim] down and preventing her from contacting help established that she was confined by force and against her will on her living room floor and those acts were legally sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find that Howard was guilty of false imprisonment beyond a reasonable doubt.
Merger- False Imprisonment and 1st Degree Assault are separate crimes with separate elements and do not merge
8th Amendment- Cruel and Unusual Punishment requires a sentence that is “grossly disproportionate” to the seriousness of the case.
From the case: A 35 year sentence for false imprisonment is not cruel and unusual based on the underlying facts and the defendant’s record