Williamson v. State

Trial by Court or Jury

In State v. Zimmerman, 261 Md. 11, where the record reflected only defense counsel’s verbalization of the election of a bench trial, the Court of Appeals decided that a post-conviction proceeding was the most appropriate forum for deciding in the first instance whether the defendant had knowingly foregone his right to jury trial. The Court concluded that a “preferable practice” in accepting an election of trial by the court was for:

“. . . the trial judge to determine on the record whether this is a knowing election on the part of the accused of a court trial in lieu of a…