Scott v. State

• Decision Date: 13 January 2004
• Docket Number: No. 52,52
• Parties: Martin F. SCOTT v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

840 A.2d 715

379 Md. 170

Martin F. SCOTT v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 52, Sept. Term, 2003.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

January 13, 2004.

Julia Doyle Bernhardt, Asst. Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on brief), for petitioner.

Mary Ann Ince, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., on brief), for respondent.

Argued before BELL, C.J., and RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, ELDRIDGE, JOHN C., (retired, specially assigned), JJ.

BATTAGLIA, J.

This case comes to us from a judgment of the Court of Special Appeals affirming the Circuit Court for Baltimore City's denial of Martin Scott's motion to correct an illegal sentence. We must consider whether the Court of Special Appeals erred when it used the doctrine of law of the case to give preclusive effect to a Circuit Court order denying Scott's motion to correct an illegal sentence. Moreover, we must decide whether Scott's sentence was illegal under Maryland Rule 4-345 because his commitment records were corrected without a hearing and in such a way as to allegedly increase his sentence.¹ We conclude that the Court of Special Appeals erred when it applied the doctrine of the law of the case to a motion to correct an illegal sentence. We affirm, however, the Court of Special Appeals' judgment on the ground that Scott's sentence was not illegal under Maryland Rule 4-345.

I. Background

A. Facts

On October 1, 1981, Scott was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City of the following offenses:

• Case No. 18035413:

Count 1: First-degree murder.

Count 2: The use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.

• Case No. 18035416:

Count 1: Robbery with a deadly weapon.

Count 8: The use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.

• Case No. 18107511:

Count 1: Assault with intent to murder.

Count 2: The use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.

The offenses arose out of the same incident that occurred on November 25, 1980; the State, however, had charged Scott with the crimes in separate indictments.

On November 5, 1981, the jury determined death to be the appropriate sentence for the first-degree murder charge, and the trial judge, Judge Peter Ward, imposed the following sentences:

• Case No. 18035413:

Count 1: Death.

Count 2: 15 years for the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony "consecutive to 1st count—Murder in the First Degree."

• Case No. 18035416:

Count 1: 20 years "consecutive to the sentence in 18033413" for robbery with a deadly weapon. Count 8: 15 years "consecutive to the 1st count" for the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.

• Case No. 18107511:

Count 1: 30 years "consecutive to sentence in 18035416" for assault with intent to murder. Count 2: 15 years "consecutive to the 1st count" for the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony.

Scott's total sentence, thus, was death plus ninety-five years.

On July 28, 1983, while incarcerated pursuant to the murder conviction in Case No. 18035413, Scott pled guilty to first-degree murder in a case involving a different incident, Case No. 18035701, for which Judge Edgar Silver, on the same day, imposed a sentence of life imprisonment, specifically stating, "Balance of Natural Life. Sentence to run consecutive to sentence now serving."

On September 19, 1983, this Court vacated the death sentence for the first-degree murder charge in Case No. 18035413, remanding the case to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for a new sentencing proceeding. Scott v. State, 297 Md. 235, 465 A.2d 1126 (1983). A new jury, with Judge John Byrnes presiding, again imposed the death sentence.

On August 5, 1987, this Court again vacated the death sentence in Case No. 18035413, remanding the case for another new sentencing proceeding. Scott v. State, 310 Md. 277, 529 A.2d 340 (1987). This time, on remand, the State and Scott agreed to a sentence of life imprisonment for the first-degree murder charge. As a result, on February 10, 1988, Judge Byrnes resentenced Scott to "balance of life," with this sentence to run consecutive to the sentence imposed by Judge Silver in Case No. 18035701.

On October 10, 1989, Scott filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence. Judge Byrnes noted that Scott's motion lacked "complete clarity," but it appeared that Scott intended to argue that both of his life sentences were illegal. In support of his motion, without specifying which sentence he was referring to, Scott first argued that "balance of Natural Life ... lends to ambiguity in the interpretation of the actual sentence" because it could be construed as a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He then argued that his commitment records failed to comply with Rule 4-351(a)(5),² as the term "consecutive" was "deficient" in that it did not indicate a starting date.

Judge Byrnes held a hearing on the motion on May 2, 1990. At that hearing, Scott acknowledged that his complaint essentially concerned the absence of a clear starting date for both life sentences. Scott argued that, even though he had received the death sentence and had been incarcerated since November 27, 1980, his commitment records did not stipulate when his sentence began. On May 17, Judge Byrnes had modified commitment records prepared for all of Scott's cases. The modified commitment records included information such as the original sentencing judge, the fact that the sentences had been corrected, and the fact that the corrections had been witnessed by the Clerk of the Court. The note "Total Time Served On All Cases: 2 consecutive life sentences plus ninety-five years" was also included on the final commitment record for the 1983 murder conviction for which a life sentence had been imposed.

On June 6, 1990, Judge Byrnes issued a memorandum and order denying Scott's motion to correct the illegal sentence. In his order, Judge Byrnes dismissed Scott's first contention that the sentence imposed in 1983 by Judge Silver in Case No. 18035701 was ambiguous because the State might interpret "natural life" to mean no possibility of parole, reasoning that the "historical record fact is that the State did not invoke Section 412(b)(2)"³ "imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole...." As such, Judge Byrnes concluded, there was no basis for Scott's contention that the correctional authorities would be confused and imprison him without possibility for parole. Judge Byrnes stated, however, that "to clarify the matter fully, an amended commitment will be issued to delete the phrase `natural life.'"

With respect to Scott's second contention, Judge Byrnes concluded that Rule 4-351(a)(5) was not violated because it was clear that the sentences were to run consecutive to each other. Judge Byrnes noted, however, that, because of Judge Silver's subsequent life sentence in 1983 and because of the fact that Scott's death sentence was vacated twice and ultimately reduced to a life sentence in 1988, Scott's commitment records should be corrected to clarify his sentence. Judge Byrne explained:

[S]ince this Court's sentence of February 10, 1988 [the life sentence that replaced the vacated death sentence] reads: "Balance of Life ... consecutive to ... No. 18035701 (Silver, J. 7/28/83), and that latter sentence was ordered by Judge Silver to run consecutive to the sentence then being served (J. Peter Ward's November 6, 1981 sentence in No. 18035413 of 15 years, and in No. 18035416 of 20 years and 15 years, and in No. 18107511 of 30 years and 15 years all consecutive to one another) the result at that time (7/28/83) would have been 95 years consecutive to the death sentence first imposed on November 6, 1981 and later reimposed on February 14, 1985. When these two death sentences in No. 18035413, Count 1 were vacated and ultimately replaced, with defendant's concurrence on February 10, 1988, by a life sentence, and the result is that those 95 years are consecutive to that life sentence, and the life sentence imposed in No. 18035701 by Judge Silver on July 28, 1983 will run consecutive to it, i.e., the life sentence in No. 18035413. Consequently, the Commitment record in No. 18035413, Count 1 should be corrected to delete the phrase ... `consecutive to # 18035701.'" Judge Byrnes also concluded that Scott's sentences began when he was incarcerated on November 27, 1980.⁴

On January 24, 1997, Scott filed his first petition for post conviction relief, which was dismissed without prejudice. On January 30, 1998, Scott filed a second petition for post conviction relief, arguing, among other things, that Judge Byrnes erred by "revising" Scott's sentence. Scott contended that, under Robinson v. Lee, 317 Md. 371, 564 A.2d 395 (1989), the Court of Appeals had held that the language "[consecutive to] sentence now being served" was deficient. On April 19, 1999, Judge Carol Smith denied Scott's petition. In her ruling, Judge Smith distinguished Scott's case from Robinson. Specifically, she noted the following:

Petitioner seems to suggest that his various original commitment records used the term "sentence now being served" as the link to each other consecutive sentence in his various cases. This is incorrect. Only in the original commitment record issued in case number 18035701, dated July 7, 1983, is that language used. All of the other six original commitment records, as well as the four sentence modifications dated May 17, 1990, refer to case numbers and counts to provide clarity for both the Petitioner and the prison authority. Furthermore, any anomaly in Petitioner's sentencing records was the result of Petitioner's resentencing after his twice successful appeals of the imposition of death sentences. In this regard, Petitioner's case is dissimilar to Robinson, wherein the sentences were being imposed for convictions of new and different crimes.

Judge Smith then explained that Scott incorrectly had stated the holding in Robinson:

In that case, the Court of Appeals merely stated that the trial

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