State v. Armstrong

Two wrongs may not make a right, but they can create some sticky issues on appeal, which are what we have here.

The first wrong was committed by the Circuit Court for Baltimore County; it acted precipitously in dismissing pending indictments against appellees when the Court of Appeals filed its first Opinion in State v. Hicks, 285 Md. 310 (1979). The State then compounded the error when it aborted its appeals from those actions and attempted to salvage the prosecutions by obtaining new indictments. The question before us is whether the Circuit Court again erred when it frustrated that attempt…