Background

• On April 3–4, 2015, police arrested Damar Brown after recovering a loaded firearm and charged him in District Court with misdemeanors by statement of charges; the State later filed identical misdemeanor informations in Circuit Court.
• Brown never received a preliminary hearing in District Court prior to the filing of informations in Circuit Court.
• Brown moved in Circuit Court to dismiss, arguing CP § 4-102(2) and Md. Rule 4-201(c)(2)(A) required a preliminary hearing before the State could charge misdemeanors by information; the Circuit Court granted dismissal.
• The State appealed; the Court of Special Appeals reversed, holding CP § 4-102(2) does not require preliminary hearings for misdemeanors charged by information in Circuit Court.
• The Court of Appeals granted certiorari and affirmed the Court of Special Appeals: CP § 4-102(2)’s phrase “any other case” applies to felonies within District Court jurisdiction, not to misdemeanors charged by information in Circuit Court.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Bellard v. State, 452 Md. 467 (Court interprets statutes de novo and emphasizes plain-language statutory construction)
• Phillips v. State, 451 Md. 180 (explains statutory interpretation approach and use of context)
• Mummert v. Alizadeh, 435 Md. 207 (statute must be read in context of statutory scheme)
• Stickley v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 431 Md. 347 (plain language controlled by statutory context and related statutes)
• Kardy v. Shook, 237 Md. 524 (no constitutional right to preliminary hearing; statutory grant controls)
• Crawford v. State, 282 Md. 210 (describes purposes of preliminary hearings and that they are statutory rights)