Mateen v. Saar

• Decision Date: 04 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 121,121
• Citation: 829 A.2d 1007,376 Md. 385
• Parties: Muhsin R. MATEEN v. Mary Ann SAAR, et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

829 A.2d 1007

376 Md. 385

Muhsin R. MATEEN v. Mary Ann SAAR, et al.

No. 121, Sept. Term, 2002.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

August 4, 2003.

Nancy S. Forster, Deputy Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on brief), Baltimore, for petitioner.

Andrew H. Baida, Solicitor General (J. Joseph Curran, Atty. Gen., Scott S. Oakley, Asst. Atty. Gen., on brief), Baltimore, for respondents.

Argued before BELL, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL and BATTAGLIA, 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 Muhsin R. Mateen's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. We must consider whether the Circuit Court's pronouncement of Mateen's 1973 sentence for first degree murder was for 50 years, or for life with all but 50 years suspended, whether subsequent off-the-record communications between the sentencing judge and the chairman of the Maryland Parole Commission, in the absence of notice to Mateen or an opportunity to be heard, could have constituted a valid correction of Mateen's 1973 sentence, and finally, whether the State¹ has the right on appeal to challenge the legality of a flat 50-year sentence, if that was what the trial judge pronounced, for first degree murder. For the reasons discussed herein, we shall conclude that Mateen's sentence was for 50 years, that, although illegal, his sentence was not corrected in accordance with the Maryland Rules, and that the State did not have the right to challenge the legality of the sentence on appeal. Consequently, we shall reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals and remand the case with directions that the intermediate appellate court remand the case to the Circuit Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 30, 1972, Mateen (a/k/a Jerome Allen Williams)² was convicted in the Criminal Court of Baltimore of first degree murder. At the time of the murder, Maryland law provided that "[e]very person convicted of murder in the first degree ... shall suffer death, or undergo a confinement in the penitentiary of the State for the period of their natural life, in the discretion of the court before whom such person may be tried." Maryland Code, Art. 27, § 413 (1957, 1971 Repl.Vol.). Because discretionary death sentences like that provided for in Section 413 had been struck down by this Court as unconstitutional by the time of Mateen's sentencing,³ Judge Marshall A. Levin declared that, "the law [left him with] no alternative" other than to impose a life sentence. Consequently, on January 5, 1973, Judge Levin sentenced Mateen "to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Correction" commencing September 9, 1972, and continuing for the "balance of his natural life."

Thereafter, however, in State v. Wooten, 277 Md. 114, 116-18, 352 A.2d 829, 831 (1976), this Court determined that Article 27, Section 413 was subject to Maryland Code, Art. 27, § 641A (1957, 1971 Repl. Vol.), which empowered courts to "impose a sentence for a specified period and provide that a lesser period be served in confinement [and to] suspend the remainder of the sentence." Subsequently, in Williamson v. State, 284 Md. 212, 215, 395 A.2d 496, 497 (1979), we concluded that a trial judge erred when he "did not exercise the discretion that he possessed under Wooten despite [an] appellant's request that he consider suspending part of the life sentence imposed upon her." In light of these decisions, Mateen filed a petition for post conviction relief with the Criminal Court of Baltimore, in which he asserted that his life sentence was illegal because Judge Levin, in 1973, "failed to consider a suspension of the sentence as a possible alternative to incarceration." The post conviction judge agreed and ordered that the case be "remanded to the trial court for resentencing."⁴ On March 19, 1982, a new sentencing hearing was held before Judge Levin. The parties represent that there is no transcript available of that hearing. A docket entry for the date of the hearing, however, states: "Change of sentence hearing. Judgment. Fifty (50) years c/o DOC dating from 9-9-72." In addition, a Criminal Court of Baltimore Commitment Record, dated March 19, 1982, states: "Prisoner is committed to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Correction commencing on 9-9-72 for a period of Fifty (50) years." A Division of Correction Sentence and Detainer Status Change Report also states that Mateen's sentence was "reduced on 3-19-82 to 50 years from life," and that "[h]is total sentence now reads: 50 [years] from 9-9-72."

Seven months after the resentencing hearing, in a letter dated October 28, 1982, the Chairman of the Maryland Parole Commission sought clarification of Mateen's sentence from Judge Levin. The Chairman wrote in a letter to Judge Levin that "the Annotated Code of Maryland mandates if a person is found guilty of First Degree Murder the sentence must be life imprisonment." The Chairman then asked Judge Levin whether it was his "intention to sentence [Mateen] to life imprisonment and suspend all but 50 years or was [Mateen] found guilty of a lesser count and sentenced to 50 years incarceration?" "Clarification of the correct sentence structure," the Chairman reasoned, "is necessary in determining whether [Mateen] receives parole consideration after serving one-fourth of his sentence or whether he has to serve 15 years less good conduct time and industrial time if he was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a portion suspended."

Judge Levin responded by letter dated November 3, 1982, in which he wrote: "Please forgive my inartistic sentencing. It was my intention to sentence [Mateen] to life and suspend all but fifty years." After receiving Judge Levin's letter, the Division of Correction issued a second Sentence and Detainer Status Change Report on November 16, 1982, stating that Mateen's "total sentence now reads: Life suspend 50 yrs."

By letter dated April 1, 1984, Mateen sought clarification from Judge Levin of his sentence. Three days later, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City⁵ issued another Commitment Record stating, "Sentence changed to read: Balance of Natural Life and all but Fifty (50) years suspended," and two days after that, Judge Levin wrote to Mateen that, "The sentence I gave you at your resentencing on March 19, 1982 was life with all but fifty years suspended." Judge Levin also wrote:

Under Maryland law when a person is found guilty of first degree murder the judge must sentence him to life imprisonment. However, the judge can suspend part of that sentence, which I did in your case. Your commitment order has been rewritten by the clerk's office in order to reflect what I stated above and to remove any confusion that exists about your sentence.

Mateen wrote another letter to Judge Levin in November of 1984 again seeking clarification of his sentence and an explanation as to his eligibility for parole. Judge Levin responded by letter dated December 13, 1984, in which he wrote:

I imposed a life sentence. However, I suspended all but 50 years. That means that your actual sentence is 50 years. If you are released on parole and any part of your sentence is thus "suspended" (meaning that you have not served the entire 50 years) then the suspended amount can be reimposed if you violate parole.... Parole is predicated on 50 years.

In 1986, Mateen became eligible for, but was denied, parole. In 1987, he was transferred to a Pre-Release unit, eventually began to participate in family leave and work release programs, and was again considered for, but denied, parole. Parole was also denied in 1988 and in 1989. In 1990, Mateen wrote another letter to Judge Levin, again seeking clarification of his sentence and an explanation as to his eligibility for parole. Judge Levin responded to Mateen in a May 15, 1990 letter, reiterating that his "actual sentence was amended in 1982 from `life,' to `life, with all but 50 years suspended.'" The judge also explained that according to the Parole Commission, Mateen became eligible for parole in 1986, but that parole was denied that year, as well as in 1987, 1988, and 1989, and that Mateen was scheduled to appear before the Parole Commission again in June of 1990. The Judge then noted that the Parole Commission was treating Mateen's "eligibility for parole properly" and explained that "eligibility does not mean you are automatically released... you must satisfy the Parole Commission that you are a suitable candidate for parole."

In 1993, the Commissioner of Correction cancelled family leave and work release programs for inmates serving life sentences and ordered that all such inmates be classified to no less than medium security, except under certain conditions. As a result, Mateen was removed from family leave and work release programs and returned to a medium security facility. Division of Correction Directives 100-005, 100-508 and 100-543, which reflected these policies, were issued later.

On September 14, 1993, Mateen appeared before the Maryland Parole Commission, parole was denied, and Mateen's case was to be reheard in one year. One year later, Mateen again appeared before the Parole Commission, and the Commission recommended that Mateen be paroled. In 1995, Governor Glendening denied parole.

Two years later Mateen filed, pro se, a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City seeking, "Declaratory Judgement for Suspended Life sentence, Release on Parole and/or to Participate in Pre-Release, Work Release, and Family Leave Programs." On October 31, 2000, without a hearing and prior to the deadline for Mateen's reply to the State's response to his Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, the Circuit Court issued an Order denying Mateen's Petition on the basis that "the individual confined or restrained is not entitled to any relief." Mateen was never served with a...