A not-for-precedent criminal appeal opinion was recently handed down by the Appellate Court of Maryland that offers a good example of why it is so important to hire experienced and knowledgeable Maryland criminal defense lawyers. See Winbush v. State, Case No. 1392, September Term, 2023 (Md. App. Court 2024). In Winbush, the resolution of the appeal turned on whether the legal issue AND arguments related thereto had been “preserved for appeal.” In a very short opinion, the Appellate Court held that the argument related to the legal issue had NOT been preserved. As such, the court did not reach the merits of the legal issue and affirmed the conviction and sentence.

What does “preserved for appeal” mean?

Under Maryland criminal law, every person charged with and convicted of a crime has a legal right to take an appeal to the Maryland Appellate Court. However, appeals are not “general appeals” like “I was wrongly convicted.” An appeal must be much more narrow and identify where mistakes or errors were made at trial. And not just any mistakes and errors, but mistakes and errors of law. That is, a criminal court judge is tasked with applying Maryland laws and the Rules of Evidence properly. So, an appeal in Maryland requires identifying mistakes and errors in how the trial judge applied the law during the trial.

However, appeals are not based on “free-floating in the air” types of mistakes and errors, but mistakes and errors pointed out and identified by the LAWYERS in the case — the prosecution lawyers and the lawyers for the criminal defendant. For example, the criminal defense attorney rises and says: “Your Honor, objection. It would be a mistake to admit this evidence.” The attorney for the prosecution states his or her position, and the judge makes a Ruling — “Agreed” or “Objection Overruled.” This is what it means to preserve an issue for appeal. If none of the lawyers point out the possible mistake, then that possible mistake cannot be the basis for an appeal. Good criminal defense lawyers know possible mistakes when they see/hear them and make their objections. Bad criminal defense lawyers do not have enough experience or are not paying close enough attention to make the objections when the objections need to be made.

Furthermore, the proper arguments must be made and preserved for appeal. For example, the criminal defense attorney rises and says: “Your Honor, I object to this witness testifying for reasons … one … two…. and three.” By doing this, the arguments are also properly preserved for appeal. Good criminal defense lawyers have the experience to do this successfully. Inexperienced criminal defense lawyers do not.

This is what happened in Winbush. At trial, the prosecution objected to certain testimony from a witness. The attorney for the criminal defendant argued for admission of the testimony based on one legal rule. The attorney for the criminal defendant did not mention a second legal rule that might have allowed the testimony to have been admitted. On appeal, the attorney for the criminal defendant argued for a new trial by claiming that the testimony should have been admitted based on the second legal rule (the one that had not been discussed at the trial level). As noted, the Appellate Court disagreed. The court held that the argument had not been preserved for appeal, and the verdict and sentence were upheld.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Criminal Defense lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.