Davis v. Slater

• Decision Date: 15 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. 26 September Term, 2004.,26 September Term, 2004.
• Citation: 861 A.2d 78,383 Md. 599
• Parties: Jimmy L. DAVIS v. Patricia Ann SLATER.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

861 A.2d 78

383 Md. 599

Jimmy L. DAVIS v. Patricia Ann SLATER.

No. .

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

November 15, 2004.

Bruce A. Plaxen (Jonathan A. Kopin of Plaxen & Adler, P.A., on brief), Columbia, for appellant.

Robert K. Nead (Nead, Karey & Minton, L.L.P., on brief), Towson, for appellee.

ARGUED BEFORE: BELL, C.J., RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, and GREENE, JJ.

BATTAGLIA, J.

Petitioner, Jimmy L. Davis [hereinafter "Davis"], comes before this Court to challenge the trial court's denial of his Motion to Strike Jury Demand. Davis argues that when he reduced his ad damnum clause from Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars to Ten Thousand Dollars by amending his complaint, the Respondent, Patricia Ann Slater [hereinafter "Slater"], who had elected a jury trial, was no longer entitled to a jury trial. Because we do not interpret Article 23 of the Declaration of Rights or Section 4-402(e)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article as divesting parties in civil cases of their common law entitlement to a jury trial where the amount in controversy fails to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars, we affirm the denial of the Motion to Strike Jury Demand.

I. Facts and Procedural History

On Monday, July 26, 1999, at approximately 2:20 p.m., Slater collided with a 1995 Plymouth Neon driven by Davis while it was stopped at a red light just beyond the off-ramp from I-695 on Moravia Road in Baltimore County, Maryland. An ambulance arrived at the scene and transported Davis to Bay View Hospital.

On May 29, 2001, Davis filed a complaint in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore County requesting twenty-five thousand dollars in damages and the costs of maintaining the action. One month later, Slater filed her Answer and properly elected a jury trial pursuant to Maryland Code (1974, 1999 Repl.Vol.), Section 4-402(e)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.¹ On July 12, 2001, the District Court transferred the action to the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. For the next 18 months, both parties engaged in discovery.

On February 11, 2003, Davis filed an Amended Complaint reducing his ad damnum demand to Ten Thousand Dollars. Davis then filed his Motion to Strike Jury Demand and Request for Hearing on August 13, 2003, relying upon Section 4-402(e)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article and Article 23 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.² Slater's response, filed on August 25, 2003, also relied on Section 4-402(e)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article and the provisions contained in Maryland Rule 2-325(f).³ On October 20, Judge Ruth A. Jakubowski denied Davis's Motion to Strike Jury Demand without a hearing.

At trial on December 10, 2003, Davis renewed his Motion to Strike Jury Trial, and Judge J. Norris Byrnes denied the Motion. The jury was selected and empaneled. At the close of evidence, Davis again renewed his Motion to Strike Jury Trial, which was denied. After closing arguments, the jury deliberated and returned a verdict in favor of Davis in the amount of $727.03 plus interest and costs.

Davis noted an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and this Court issued, on its own initiative, a writ of certiorari, Davis v. Slater, 381 Md. 673, 851 A.2d 593 (2004), prior to any proceedings in the intermediate appellate court. Davis's brief presented the following question for our review:

Did the Circuit Court erroneously order that Petitioner's claim for $10,000 should properly be heard by a jury?

We conclude that the Circuit Court was correct and affirm its denial of Davis's Motion to Strike Jury Trial.

II. Standard of Review

The resolution of whether a jury trial was proper under the circumstances of this case requires us to construe the meaning of Articles 5 and 23 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, Section 4-402(e)(1) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, and Maryland Rule 2-325(f). Because our interpretation of the Maryland Declaration of Rights and Constitution, provisions of the Maryland Code, and the Maryland Rules are appropriately classified as questions of law, we review the issues de novo to determine if the trial court was legally correct in its rulings on these matters. See e.g., J.L. Matthews, Inc. v. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning, 368 Md. 71, 93-94, 792 A.2d 288, 301 (2002)

; Pickett v. Sears, Roebuck & Company, 365 Md. 67, 77, 775 A.2d 1218, 1223 (2001); Calomiris v. Woods, 353 Md. 425, 435, 727 A.2d 358, 363 (1999).

When interpreting constitutional provisions, we generally employ the same rules of construction that are applicable to the construction of statutory language. Fish Market Nominee Corp. v. G.A.A., Inc., 337 Md. 1, 8, 650 A.2d 705, 708 (1994); Brown v. Brown, 287 Md. 273, 277, 412 A.2d 396, 398 (1980); Kadan v. Bd. of Sup. of Elections, 273 Md. 406, 414, 329 A.2d 702, 707 (1974); New Cent. Co. v. George's Creek Co., 37 Md. 538 (1873). Similarly, the principles applied to statutory interpretation are also used to interpret the Maryland Rules. Beyer v. Morgan State University, 369 Md. 335, 350, 800 A.2d 707, 715 (2002); Pickett v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 365 Md. 67, 78, 775 A.2d 1218, 1224 (2001); see generally Johnson v. State, 360 Md. 250, 265, 757 A.2d 796, 804 (2000)

. Like construing a statute, to ascertain the meaning of a constitutional provision or rule of procedure we first look to the normal, plain meaning of the language. Fish Market, 337 Md. at 8, 650 A.2d at 708; Luppino v. Gray, 336 Md. 194, 204 n. 8, 647 A.2d 429, 434 n. 8 (1994); Rand v. Rand, 280 Md. 508, 511, 374 A.2d 900, 902 (1977); Balto. Gas & Elect. Co. v. Board, 278 Md. 26, 31, 358 A.2d 241, 244 (1976); Johnson, 360 Md. at 265,

757 A.2d at 804. If that language is clear and unambiguous, we need not look beyond the provision's terms to inform our analysis, Fish Market, 337 Md. at 8, 650 A.2d at 708; Rand, 280 Md. at 511,

374 A.2d at 902; Johnson, 360 Md. at 265,

757 A.2d at 804; however, the goal of our examination is always to discern the legislative purpose, the ends to be accomplished, or the evils to be remedied by a particular provision, be it statutory, constitutional or part of the Rules. Morris v. Prince George's County, 319 Md. 597, 603-04, 573 A.2d 1346, 1349 (1990), citing Dept. of Environment v. Showell, 316 Md. 259, 270, 558 A.2d 391, 396 (1989); Harford County v. Edgewater, 316 Md. 389, 397, 558 A.2d 1219, 1223 (1989). To that end, we must consider the context in which the constitutional provision, statute, or rule appears, including related statutes or rules, and relevant legislative history. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Chase, 360 Md. 121, 129, 756 A.2d 987, 991-92 (2000), citing Kaczorowski v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 309 Md. 505, 515, 525 A.2d 628, 632 (1987); Johnson, 360 Md. at 265,

757 A.2d at 804. Also, where the language of the constitutional provision, statute, or rule is ambiguous, external evidence may be referred to for discerning the purpose of the legislature, including the bill's title or function paragraphs, relevant case law, and secondary sources. Moore v. Miley, 372 Md. 663, 678, 814 A.2d 557, 567 (2003); Comptroller of the Treasury v. Clyde's of Chevy Chase, Inc., 377 Md. 471, 483, 833 A.2d 1014, 1021 (2003); Johnson, 360 Md. at 265,

757 A.2d at 804; Schuman, Kane, Felts & Everngam, Chartered v. Aluisi, 341 Md. 115, 119, 668 A.2d 929, 932 (1995); Kaczorowski, 309 Md. at 515,

525 A.2d at 633.

III. Background

Davis contends that the Circuit Court erred as a matter of law when it held that Slater was still entitled to a jury trial despite the fact that the amount in controversy no longer exceeded Ten Thousand Dollars. He relies on the Court of Special Appeals's opinion in Cheek v. J.B.G. Properties, Inc., 28 Md.App. 29, 344 A.2d 180 (1975), to support his assertion that access to a jury trial is triggered solely by the amount in controversy. Id. at 47, 344 A.2d at 191-92. Ultimately, Davis argues that his amendment to the ad damnum clause, reducing the amount in controversy from Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars to Ten Thousand Dollars, divested Slater of her entitlement to a jury trial.

Slater counters that, pursuant to Rule 2-325(f), once a party has properly elected a jury trial in a civil case, all parties must consent to waive the entitlement to a jury trial for the case to be heard by the court rather than the jury. She interprets the language in Article 23 of the Declaration of Rights as guaranteeing an entitlement to a jury in suits where the amount in controversy exceeds Ten Thousand Dollars, and asserts, contrary to Davis's position, that the guarantee does not act to forbid a jury trial where the amount in controversy does not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars. In reaching that conclusion, Slater reads the provisions of Articles 5 and 23 of the Declaration of Rights⁴ in tandem so that litigants still have the entitlement to a jury trial where the amount in controversy fails to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars, but that, according to the language of Article 5, it is subject to regulation by the General Assembly.⁵

Slater also analogizes the situation before this Court to that in Thompson v. State, 278 Md. 41, 359 A.2d 203 (1976), a criminal case in which a defendant properly demanded a jury trial, which was denied by the trial court when the State decided to nolle prosequi the charge that entitled the defendant to a jury trial. Slater reasons that because a defendant in a criminal case was entitled to a trial by jury at common law even where the "major" criminal violation was dismissed, this Court should reach a similar result in a civil case when the amount in controversy contained in Article 23 is no longer satisfied.

To further emphasize the fundamental nature of the entitlement to trial by jury, Slater relies on this Court's decision in Pickett v. Sears, Roebuck & Company, 365 Md. 67, 775 A.2d 1218 (2001), which analyzed the purpose of the Maryland Rules addressing the entitlement to a jury...