State v. Clements, 461 Md. 280

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that a circuit court’s order granting a motion under Maryland Rule 4-345(a) to correct an illegal sentence and vacating the existing sentence is interlocutory when no new sentence has yet been imposed. The State therefore lacked authority to appeal under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article § 12-302(c)(3)(ii) at that stage. The court affirmed the dismissal of the State’s appeal by the Court of Special Appeals.

Holdings

1. A motion under Maryland Rule 4-345(a), and an order granting or denying that motion, are part of the underlying criminal proceeding rather than a wholly independent civil action.
2. The State may not appeal from an order granting a Rule 4-345(a) motion and vacating an existing sentence when the circuit court has not yet imposed a new sentence, because the order is not a final judgment that imposed or modified a sentence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Court of Special Appeals erred in dismissing the State's appeal from the circuit court's order granting a Maryland Rule 4-345(a) motion and vacating the existing sentence without imposing a new sentence.
2. Whether the circuit court erred in considering and granting Clements's motion to correct an illegal sentence.

Disposition

affirmed