Cottman v. State (Ct. of Appeals)

Filed December 8, 2006--Opinion by Judge Clayton Greene, Jr.

Criminal Law – Proceedings – Appeals – Effect of New Trial – Mootness – Where a criminal defendant, after conviction and sentence, files a timely notice of appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, but is granted a new trial before the appellate opinion is filed, the appellate court may be required to dismiss the appeal. The trial court retains fundamental jurisdiction to grant a new trial, despite the pending appeal, but the effect of granting a new trial, ordinarily, renders the appeal moot. In the instant case, the Court of Special Appeals erred, as a matter of law, in failing to dismiss the appeal where the subject matter of the appeal was moot and that court was unable to review the propriety of the order granting the new trial.

The full opinion is available in WordPerfect and PDF.