Christian v. State, 152

• Decision Date: 01 September 1985
• Docket Number: No. 152,152
• Parties: Frederick Allen CHRISTIAN v. STATE of Maryland
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 114

309 Md. 114

522 A.2d 945

Frederick Allen CHRISTIAN v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 152 Sept. Term, 1985.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 27, 1987.

Gary S. Offutt, Asst. Public Defender (Alan H. Murrell, Public Defender, on brief), Baltimore, for appellant.

Jillyn K. Schulze, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Stephen H. Sachs, Atty. Gen., on brief), Baltimore, for appellee.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., SMITH, ^* ELDRIDGE, COLE, RODOWSKY, COUCH and McAULIFFE, JJ.

COLE, Judge.

We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether, prior to sentencing, a trial court may reconsider and vacate its order granting a criminal defendant a new trial.

The relevant facts may be recounted briefly. Christian was convicted on May 3, 1984, of daytime housebreaking, breaking and entering, and theft. A day later, and prior to sentencing, Christian filed a motion for a new trial. Christian's motion alleged that the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony regarding statements Christian had made to the victim. Christian contended that the trial court should have excluded the statements because the State had not informed defense counsel of the statements' existence prior to trial and, thus, had failed to comply with Maryland Rule 741. ¹ The State contended that Christian was not entitled to a new trial because the trial court had properly admitted the testimony. The State maintained that the testimony regarding Christian's statements was properly admitted because Rule 741 required the State to disclose only those statements that the defendant had made to state agents. The trial court agreed with Christian's interpretation of the Rule and granted his motion for a new trial.

On September 18, 1984, the State filed a motion seeking revision of the trial court's new trial order. The State based its motion on our decision of a few days earlier in White v. State, 300 Md. 719, 481 A.2d 201 (1984). In White, we answered the precise question posed by Christian's motion for a new trial, i.e., we held that Rule 741 required the State to disclose to defense counsel prior to trial only those statements the defendant had made to state agents. Id. at 736, 481 A.2d at 209. Accordingly, the trial court granted the State's motion to revise its new trial order and on October 4, 1984 vacated its order granting Christian a new trial, noting that Christian's original conviction would stand. The court sentenced Christian on the same day. Christian appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, which affirmed the trial court. Christian v. State, 65 Md.App. 303, 500 A.2d 341 (1985). We granted certiorari to review the question of whether a trial judge has the authority to reconsider and vacate his prior order granting a new trial. We conclude that he does.

Christian makes three basic arguments that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to strike its order granting him a new trial. First, Christian argues that Rule 770 ² did not provide authority for a trial court to reconsider a new trial motion because Rule 770 provided only that the court could grant or deny a motion for a new trial. Second, Christian argues that the trial court had no authority to reconsider its order granting him a new trial because a new trial order is a final appealable judgment under Maryland law. Finally, Christian argues that, if we allow a trial judge to reconsider his grant or denial of a new trial, we should limit the time within which he may do so to a period of thirty days or the term of the court in which the order was entered.

The State, on the other hand, argues that a new trial order is an interlocutory order that is subject to the court's revisory power. Furthermore, the State maintains that the time limits Christian suggests for the reconsideration of a new trial order are applicable only to final judgments and, thus, are inapplicable to new trial orders, which are interlocutory.

We agree with the State, and conclude that the trial court's new trial order was an interlocutory order and, as such, was subject to the court's revisory power prior to Christian's sentencing. We explain how we arrive at our conclusion.

In Sigma Reproductive Health Center v. State, 297 Md. 660, 664-65, 467 A.2d 483, 485-86 (1983), we recognized the general rule that an appeal will only lie from a final, as opposed to an interlocutory, judgment. We further noted that, in a criminal case, a final judgment is not rendered until the court has entered a verdict and a sentence. Id. at 665, 467 A.2d at 485.

In our effort to distinguish a final appealable trial order from an interlocutory nonappealable trial order we cited several examples of both. Significantly, we included an order granting or denying a new trial as an example of an interlocutory nonappealable order. Id. at 667, 467 A.2d at 486 (citing State v. Asherman, 180 Conn. 141, 429 A.2d 810 (1980); quoted in Dean v. State, 302 Md. 493, 498-99, 489 A.2d 22, 24-25 (1985)).

In Asherman, the defendant argued that his appeal from the trial court's order denying him a new trial should not be dismissed because it was an appeal from an interlocutory order. Asherman argued that the motion for a new trial was a separate and distinct proceeding, from which he could directly appeal. The court rejected Asherman's argument, noting that "a motion for a new trial [, when] filed in a case then in progress or pending[,] ... is merely a gradation in that case leading to a final judgment." State v. Asherman, 180 Conn. at 144, 429 A.2d at 812 (citation omitted). The Asherman court further noted that errors claimed in relation to a new trial motion made before a final judgment is rendered may be considered on appeal from the final judgment. Id. at 144, 429 A.2d at 813.

We are in agreement with the Asherman court, and conclude that an order granting or denying a new trial to a criminal defendant prior to sentencing is an interlocutory nonappealable order. Accordingly, we hold that an order granting or denying a new trial may be reconsidered anytime prior to sentencing in a criminal case. ³

In People v. Weller, 679 P.2d 1077 (Colo.1984) (en banc), the Supreme Court of Colorado held that a trial court may rescind its order granting a new trial when the rescission order is entered before a final judgment is rendered or an appeal filed. The court analogized the issue of whether a trial court could reconsider a new trial motion to the issue of whether a trial court could reconsider a ruling previously made on a motion to suppress. ⁴ The Weller court quoted its decision in People v. Lewis, 659 P.2d 676 (Colo.1983), in which it had held that a trial judge had the discretion " 'to entertain a motion to reconsider a previously denied motion to suppress when the motion to reconsider is predicated on a ... substantial [change] in the law [that] render[s] the prosecutor's evidence inadmissible at trial.' " Weller, 679 P.2d at 1081 (quoting People v. Lewis, 659 P.2d at 680). The Weller court further noted:

[I]t would make little sense to hold that if a judge responsible for the final judgment perceived that a motion for a new trial had been granted erroneously, he nonetheless could not reconsider his order before final judgment is entered or a notice of appeal filed. It also would make little sense for us to require the expense and burdens of a new trial if the judge who originally ordered the trial believes that he erred in granting the new trial motion.

People v. Weller, 679 P.2d at 1081. See also United States v. Spiegel, 604 F.2d 961, 971 (5th Cir.1979) (trial court had jurisdiction to reconsider grant of new trial where no judgment of conviction had been entered); People v. Jones, 690 P.2d 866, 868 (Colo.Ct.App.1984) (trial court had jurisdiction to reconsider order granting new trial because order does not constitute an appealable final judgment); People v. Thompson, 38 Ill.App.3d 101, 347 N.E.2d 481, 483 (1976) (order granting new trial is interlocutory when entered prior to sentencing and, as such, may be reconsidered); cf. Gallimore v. Missouri Pac. R.R. Co., 635 F.2d 1165 (5th Cir.1981) (order granting new trial destroys the finality of the judgment and, thus, is interlocutory and may be reconsidered); United States v. F.D. Rich Co., Inc., 520 F.2d 886, 888 (9th Cir.1975) (relying on Bateman v. Donovan, 131 F.2d 759, 764 (9th Cir.1943) to hold that a new trial order, being interlocutory, is subject to rescission or modification any time before entry of final judgment); Bateman v. Donovan, 131 F.2d 759, 764 (9th Cir.1943) (an order granting a new trial is interlocutory because it leaves the parties before the court and, as such, may be set aside if erroneously granted); Wolff v. Arctic Bowl, Inc., 560 P.2d 758, 763 (Alaska 1977).

We similarly find that it is utterly illogical to preclude a trial judge from reconsidering his order granting or denying a new trial when that order is made prior to the entry of a final judgment, particularly under the circumstances sub judice. The trial judge granted Christian's motion for a new trial based upon his interpretation of the rule. Subsequent to the trial court's granting Christian a new trial, but prior to the entry of a final judgment, this Court made clear that the trial court's interpretation of the rule was erroneous. Consequently, the trial judge changed his ruling to conform with our interpretation. If we were to disallow the trial court from reconsidering its order under these circumstances, Christian would receive a bonus trial, so to speak, because under our holding in White v. State, 300 Md. 719, 481 A.2d 201, there exists absolutely no reason why Christian is entitled to a new trial.

Our holding today is consistent with previous decisions of both this Court and the Court of Special Appeals. In Davidson v. Miller, 276 Md. 54, 344 A.2d 422 (1975), we addressed the question of whether, in the context of a civil proceeding, a trial court possesses the power to vacate its order granting a new...