Zylanz v. State
| Decision Date | 16 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 1111,1111 |
| Citation | 883 A.2d 257,164 Md. App. 340 |
| Parties | Tavony Wayne ZYLANZ v. STATE of Maryland. |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
William E. Nolan (Nancy S. Forster, Public Defender, on brief), for appellant.
Celia Anderson Davis (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., on brief), for appellee.
Panel BARBERA, SHARER and THEODORE G. BLOOM (Retired, Specially Assigned) JJ.
The sole issue in this appeal is whether appellant, Tavony Wayne Zylanz, knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to trial by jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.1 He posits that his jury trial waiver was "constitutionally flawed because the record does not demonstrate that it was knowingly and voluntarily made and because the trial court failed to make any findings on the record that the waiver was constitutionally effective." We shall hold that the waiver was knowingly and voluntarily made, and affirm.
Substantive and procedural law regarding a defendant's waiver of trial by jury is effectively summarized in Md. Rule 4-246(b):
(b) Procedure for acceptance of waiver. A defendant may waive the right to a trial by jury at any time before the commencement of trial. The court may not accept the waiver until it determines, after an examination of the defendant on the record in open court conducted by the court, the State's Attorney, the attorney for the defendant, or any combination thereof, that the waiver is made knowingly and voluntarily.
In Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970), the Supreme Court stated that "[w]aivers of constitutional rights not only must be voluntary but must be knowing, intelligent acts done with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences." For the waiver of a constitutional right to be valid, it must be "an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right. . . ." Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). In Maryland, the Court of Appeals has said that "[f]or a waiver to be valid, the court must be satisfied that the defendant's election was made knowledgeably and voluntarily." Martinez v. State, 309 Md. 124, 133, 522 A.2d 950 (1987).
At bottom, the court must "satisfy itself that the waiver is not a product of duress or coercion and further that the defendant has some knowledge of the jury trial right before being allowed to waive it." State v. Hall, 321 Md. 178, 182-83, 582 A.2d 507 (1990). Nonetheless, "the questioner need not recite any fixed litany or incantation in order to determine if the right has been properly abandoned." Dedo v. State, 105 Md.App. 438, 450, 660 A.2d 959 (1995). Finally, "whether there has been an intelligent waiver of [the right to] a jury trial is to be decided by the facts and circumstances of each case." Id. See Tibbs v. State, 323 Md. 28, 590 A.2d 550 (1991)
; State v. Hall, 321 Md. 178, 582 A.2d 507 (1990); Martinez v. State, supra; Kang v. State, 163 Md.App. 22, 877 A.2d 173 (2005).
To put the facts and circumstances of this case in perspective, we set out, in considerable detail, the proceedings of June 21, 2004, when appellant, having previously requested a trial by jury, appeared for trial before the circuit court.
After consideration of appellant's motion for a postponement (which was denied by the court), the following ensued:
After further discussion with defense counsel, Zylanz advised the court that he wanted a jury trial. The court called for a jury, during which time both counsel left the courtroom, then returned. Upon their return, the court advised Zylanz as follows:
All right. Mr. Zylanz, we're back on the record now. You've elected a jury trial. The jury panel is on their way up. That means the State's offer or plea bargain is withdrawn. Everything else is on the table. We're entering a plea of not guilty as to each and every charge, all the counts.
Moments later, defense counsel advised the court that Zylanz had changed his mind, and "would like a bench trial now with no jury, just in front of you." The discussion continued, as follows:
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