WILLIAM LOUIS KRANZ v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Special Appeals, Berger, Aug. 30, 2017,
Post-conviction – A defendant who is not imprisoned, on parole, or on probation cannot file a post-conviction or have a post-conviction considered on appeal.
Facts:
In 2009, Kranz was charged with first-degree assault and related charges related to shooting two individuals who drove on his property in Cecil County.
Unbeknownst to Kranz, a Cecil County prosecutor (not the one handling his criminal case) was representing the victims in a civil suit against Kranz related to the incident.
Kranz was convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to prison followed by probation.
Kranz eventually realized that the lawyer suing him was also a Cecil County prosecutor and filed a post-conviction, arguing that there was a discovery violation in not telling him before the trial.
Kranz’s post-conviction was denied, but his probation concluded on April 7, 2015.
Kranz appealed his post-conviction, arguing that he should be given a new trial.
Held: The Court of Special Appeals disagreed. Because Kranz was no longer in prison or probation, he was not entitled to file a post-conviction or have his post-conviction considered on appeal.
From the Case: “It defies logic to conclude that the General Assembly intended that a circuit court or, as here, an appellate court would lose jurisdiction to entertain the merits of a properly filed post-conviction petition solely because at some point during the still-live action, the petitioner’s status changed from ‘in custody’ to ‘not in custody.’ Indeed, such an outcome borders on the absurd.”