Kirsner v. State

Smith, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. We shall here hold that the filing in the District Court of a motion for a new trial does not stop the running of time for an appeal and there is no appeal whatsoever from the denial of such a motion. Appellant Milton F. Kirsner was convicted of certain housing violations in the District Court of Maryland in Baltimore City. Fines were assessed on February 11, 1982.

On February 12 a motion for a new trial was made. On March 17 the motion was heard. One of the fines was reduced. The remainder were permitted to stand.

Otherwise the motion was denied. On April 14 an appeal was entered to the Criminal Court of Baltimore (now the Circuit Court for Baltimore City). When the matter came on for hearing in the Criminal Court the State’s motion to dismiss the appeal was granted on the ground that the appeal had not been filed timely. We granted a writ of certiorari in order that we might address the issue here presented.

Maryland Code (1974, 1980 Repl. Vol., 1982 Cum. Supp.) § 12-401 (c) (1), Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, provides that appeals from the District Court shall be taken '■'within 30 days from the date of the final judgment from which appealed.” Maryland Rule 1312 is to the same effect. Maryland District Rule 770 a provides, "Upon motion of the defendant filed within three days after a verdict the court, in the interest of justice, may order a new trial.” That rule is identical to Rule 770 a applicable to circuit courts. ⁵⁶⁹ Maryland District Rule 770 b extends the filing time for a motion for new trial for newly discovered evidence to one year but with the important qualification "if no appeal has been perfected ...Maryland District Rule 770 c provides that the District Court for a period of ninety days after the imposition of sentence has revisory power and control over a judgment to set aside an unjust or improper verdict and grant a new trial.

However, this, too, is "if no appeal has been perfected....” Rule 1012 d provides as to appeals from circuit courts to the Court of Special Appeals: "In a criminal case where a timely motion for a new trial is filed pursuant to Rule 770 a, the order for appeal shall be filed within thirty days from the date the motion for a new trial was denied, overruled or dismissed, or within thirty days from the date of judgment, whichever is later.” This rule was new effective July 1, 1975. No similar provision exists relative to appeals from the District Court. Kirsner reasons that there was no final judgment until the trial court ruled upon his motion for a new trial. Hence, he contends that his appeal was filed timely since it was entered on April 14, less than thirty days after the denial of the motion for a new trial on March 17.

Such simply is not the law as to appeals from the District Court nor was it the law prior to July 1, 1975, as to appeals from the circuit courts. The District Court came into being in 1971. Since the rule relative to a motion for a new trial in that court is identical to that formerly applicable to circuit courts and since the time prescribed for appeal and the language of the statutes relative to appeal insofar as criminal causes are concerned are virtually identical to that applicable to circuit courts, we turn to an examination of our holdings as to appeals and motions for a new trial in the circuit courts as such existed before the adoption of Rule 1012 d. ⁵⁷⁰ In Colter v. State, 219 Md. 190 , 148 A.2d 561 (1959), Judge Henderson said for the Court: "It ... seems clear that the timely filing of the motion for a new trial, after judgment and sentence, did not extend the time for filing an appeal. Hayes v. State, 141 Md. 280, 282 [, 118 A. 652 (1922)].

Under Rule 812 a of the Maryland Rules an appeal must be taken within thirty