In Re Petition for Writ of Prohibition

ADKINS, Judge.

At issue here is this Court’s power to issue one of the extraordinary writs—mandamus or prohibition—to a circuit court judge. The State asks us to issue one of the writs because the circuit court judge granted a jury-convicted defendant’s motion for new trial, an action from which no appeal lies. Dean v. State, 302 Md. 493, 499-500, 489 A.2d 22, 25-26 (1985). If we can cross that threshold, a second question is whether a circuit court judge may grant a new trial in a criminal case, thereby setting aside the jury’s verdict, because the judge does not credit the testimony of the…