Matthews v. State

Darrell Eugene Matthews v. State of Maryland, No. 12, September Term, 2023. Opinion by Eaves, J. MD. CODE ANN., CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ARTICLE § 8-201 – POST- CONVICTION DNA TESTING – EVIDENCE PRESERVATION The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the State’s duty to preserve scientific identification evidence is limited to those crimes enumerated in § 8-201(j)(1)(ii) of the Criminal Procedure Article (“CP”) and does not extend to all crimes for which a person is permitted to petition for DNA testing. Although there is a difference between the list of petition-eligible crimes in CP § 8-201(b) and…