Surland v. State

BELL, C.J., CATHELL and GREENE, JJ.,

dissent.

Dissenting Opinion by GREENE, J., which BELL, C.J., and CATHELL, J„ Join.

Respectfully, I dissent:

The majority seems to acknowledge that, for more than fifty-seven years, the law in Maryland has been that if the a defendant dies during the pendency of an appeal of right, as opposed to a discretionary appeal, the appeal is dismissed as moot, the conviction is vacated and the underlying indictment, *38as well, is dismissed as moot. Trindle v. State, 326 Md. 25, 602 A.2d 1232 (1992); Jones v. State, 302 Md. 153, 158, 486 A.2d 184, 187 (1985) (noting that…