Taylor v. State

Devon Jordan Taylor v. State of Maryland No. 2, September Term 2020 Appeals – Preservation – Substantial Compliance. Under Maryland Rule 4-325(e), a party in a criminal trial that wishes to preserve an objection to a jury instruction must (1) object on the record promptly after the court instructs the jury, (2) state the matter to which the party objects, and (3) identify the grounds of the objection. Defense counsel substantially complied with that rule in objecting to the trial court’s anti-CSI effect instruction when counsel objected to the court’s “scientific evidence instruction” after the court finished its instructions and when the ground for that objection – the potential effect on the burden of proof standard – was evident from the circumstances. Criminal Procedure – Jury Instructions – Anti-CSI Effect Instruction.

It was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to give an anti-CSI effect instruction – which advised the jury that the prosecution was not required to present scientific evidence as part of its case – preemptively in the absence of over-emphasis by the defense on the lack of such evidence and without reiterating that the prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and that the jury may consider a “lack of evidence” in deciding whether the burden has been satisfied. Criminal Procedure – Appeals – Harmless Error Standard. Although the evidence presented by the prosecution at trial may have been sufficient to support a guilty verdict, an appellate court could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the erroneous anti- CSI effect instruction had no influence on the jury verdict, particularly when the only evidence at trial tying the defendant to the crime was an eyewitness identification by the victim, who had never seen her assailant before and had viewed him only briefly during the crime, and when the jury initially reported that it was “evenly split” on the question of the defendant’s guilt. Circuit Court for Wicomico County Case No. 22-K-08-000665 Argument: October 2, 2020 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 2 September Term, 2020 _____________________________________ DEVON JORDAN TAYLOR V. STATE OF MARYLAND _____________________________________ Barbera, C.J., McDonald Watts Hotten Getty Booth Biran, JJ. ______________________________________ Opinion by McDonald, J. Biran, J., concurs.

Watts and Booth, JJ., dissent. ______________________________________ Pursuant to Maryland Uniform Electronic Legal Filed: April 23, 2021 Materials Act (§§ 10-1601 et seq. of the State Government Article) this document is authentic. 2021-04-23 11:46-04:00 Suzanne C. Johnson, Clerk This appeal relates to a trial of criminal charges arising out of a home invasion. The victim of the home invasion, when presented with a photo array a month after the incident, identified Petitioner Devon Taylor, who was otherwise a stranger to her, as the person who forced his way into her home. No other evidence linked Mr. Taylor to the crime. He was subsequently indicted in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County on various charges related to the home invasion.

At Mr. Taylor’s trial, the trial judge gave what is known as an “anti-CSI effect” jury instruction, which advises the jury that the prosecution need not prove its case through forensic or scientific techniques often featured in police procedural television shows. After initially indicating that it was deadlocked, the jury returned a guilty verdict. This appeal concerns whether Mr. Taylor preserved an objection to the anti-CSI effect instruction; if so, whether that instruction was appropriately given; and, if the instruction was not appropriate, whether the error was harmless. The Court of Special Appeals held that the objection was preserved and that the trial court abused its discretion when it gave the anti-CSI effect instruction.

Nevertheless, it concluded that the error was harmless and affirmed Mr. Taylor’s conviction. For the reasons discussed below, we agree that the instruction given at Mr. Taylor’s trial was erroneous. In our view, however, these circumstances do not satisfy the harmless error standard applied by Maryland appellate courts. Accordingly, Mr. Taylor’s conviction is reversed.

I Jury Instruction on Absence of Forensic Evidence The jury instruction at issue in this case is a version of what is sometimes referred to as an anti-CSI effect instruction in that it is intended to dispel a possible juror expectation, drawn from television shows, that the prosecution ordinarily meets its burden of proof by presenting fingerprint, DNA, or other forensic evidence linking a defendant to a crime. In 2007, the Court of Special Appeals issued the first reported Maryland appellate decision on the propriety of an anti-CSI effect instruction in Evans v. State, 174 Md. App. 549 , cert. denied, 400 Md. 648 (2007). Beginning in 2011, this Court has dealt with such an instruction in four decisions. See Atkins v. State, 421 Md. 434 (2011); Stabb v. State, 423 Md. 454 (2011); Robinson v. State, 436 Md. 560 (2014); Hall v. State, 437 Md. 534 (2014).1 All of these decisions dealt with the same five-sentence instruction.

That instruction consists of a key statement that “there is no legal requirement that the State use any specific investigative technique or scientific test to prove its case” bracketed by several introductory sentences, including one telling the jury to consider “all of the evidence or lack of evidence” in reaching its decision, and by a final sentence reiterating that the State must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. As quoted in Evans, the instruction was as follows: 1 This instruction is more appropriately labeled an “anti-missing evidence” instruction, as it concerns the absence of a type of evidence and does not relate either to a particular television show or, as we shall see, to an “effect” that is known to exist. It has sometimes been referred to, more generically, as a “no duty” instruction. E.g., Stabb, 423 Md. at 456 .

Although the Evans and Atkins majority opinions did not refer to this instruction as an “anti-CSI effect instruction,” the concurring opinion in Atkins used that label and subsequent decisions have adopted it as a shorthand. For ease of reference to those decisions, we will use that label in this opinion. 2 During this trial, you have heard testimony of witnesses and may hear argument of counsel that the State did not utilize a specific investigative technique or scientific test. You may consider these facts in deciding whether the State has met its burden of proof. You should consider all of the evidence or lack of evidence in deciding whether a defendant is guilty.

However, I instruct you that there is no legal requirement that the State utilize any specific investigative technique or scientific test to prove its case. Your responsibility as jurors is to determine whether the State has proven, based on the evidence, the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 174 Md. App. at 562 (emphasis added). The anti-CSI effect instruction given in each of the other cases described in this section of this opinion was the same, in some cases with very minor differences in wording. The Evans decision flashed what might be characterized as a yellow caution light concerning such an instruction.

While this Court never quite turned that light red in its subsequent decisions, it has come close to doing so.2 Evans In Evans, the Court of Special Appeals opined that an anti-CSI effect instruction that also reiterated the requirement that the prosecution prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt could be permissible in some circumstances.3 With respect to the case before it, the court pointed to defense counsel’s “robust and vehement closing arguments” about the State’s failure to employ audio or video surveillance equipment and the lack of any other 2 Applying that case law in several reported decisions, the Court of Special Appeals has reversed convictions resulting from trials at which an anti-CSI effect instruction was given. Carrero-Vasquez v. State, 210 Md. App. 504 (2013); Samba v. State, 206 Md. App. 508 (2012); Allen v. State, 204 Md. App. 701 (2012). 3 The intermediate appellate court acknowledged that its discussion of the instruction was dicta because Evans’ counsel had not objected at all to the instruction and so had not preserved the issue for that appeal. A co-defendant not involved in the appeal had appropriately objected to the instruction, but the Court of Special Appeals held that the co-defendant’s objection did not preserve the issue for Evans. 174 Md. App. at 562-66 . 3 investigative or scientific evidence and to the trial court’s legally “correct” explanation that there is no requirement that the State present particular types of evidence, “as long as the evidence adduced supports a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” 174 Md. App. at 570 . Under these circumstances, the Evans court was satisfied that the anti-CSI effect instruction in the case before it had not compromised the concept of reasonable doubt.

However, the court cautioned that “such an instruction will run afoul of the prohibition against relieving the State of its burden [of proof beyond a reasonable doubt] where the instruction is predominant in the overall instructions and its relation to the reasonable doubt standard unclear.” Id. at 570-71 . In other jurisdictions, the instruction given in Evans – or a very similar one – has been approved, before and after the Evans decision, both as a pattern instruction and as given in particular trials.4 The common issue in those appeals, as in Evans, has been whether the instruction has the effect of reducing the prosecution’s burden of proof.5 4 See, e.g., Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, Third Circuit Manual of Model Jury Instructions – Criminal 4.14 (2020); see also United States v. Holloway, 774 Fed. Appx. 147 , 148 (4th Cir. 2019); United States v. Brown, 658 Fed. Appx. 100, 104-05 (3d Cir. 2016); United States v. Gorny, 655 Fed. Appx. 920, 922-24 (3d Cir. 2016); United States v. Lassend, 545 Fed. Appx. 3, 4-5 (1st Cir. 2013); United States v. Johnson, 479 Fed. Appx. 811, 816-18 (10th Cir. 2012); United States v. Brown, 474 Fed. Appx. 945, 946-47 (4th Cir. 2012); United States v. Cox, 627 F.3d 1083, 1086 (8th Cir. 2010); United States v. Cota-Meza, 367 F.3d 1218, 1223 (10th Cir. 2004); United States v. Saldarriaga, 204 F.3d 50 (2d Cir. 2000); United States v. Zapata, 164 F.3d 620 (2d Cir. 1998); United States v. Temple, 122 F.3d 1064 (4th Cir. 1997); United States v. Walker, 66 F.3d 318 (4th Cir. 1995); United States v. Mason, 954 F.2d 219, 222 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 925 (1992); United States v. Corcoran, 855 F. Supp. 1359, 1374-75 (E.D.N.Y. 1994). 5 See, e.g., Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, Third Circuit Manual of Model Jury Instructions – Criminal 4.14, Comment (2020). The Evans court relied on the Second Circuit’s 2000 decision in Saldarriaga. At the trial in that case, the trial judge had given a “somewhat chatty” anti-CSI effect instruction that also told the jury to base its decision on the evidence “or lack of evidence” and that stressed that the prosecution had the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Saldarriaga, 204 F.3d at 52-53 . The Evans 4 Atkins This Court first addressed the propriety of this anti-CSI effect instruction in Atkins. In that case, the defendant was involved in an altercation with several other people and was charged with an assault that allegedly involved a knife. The defendant testified that he had used a small pocketknife in self-defense.

Police later recovered a large knife from the defendant’s bedroom while executing a search warrant. The prosecution argued that the large knife was the actual weapon used by the defendant, and that its use negated the claim that he acted in self-defense and indicated that he was the aggressor. Defense cross- examination of a police detective at trial established that no forensic evidence linked the large knife to the alleged assault. When the trial court charged the jury, it included the same anti-CSI effect instruction that had been given at the trial in Evans, as outlined above.

Atkins, 421 Md. at 441-42 . The defendant was convicted. On appeal, this Court reversed the conviction on the grounds that, under the circumstances, the anti-CSI effect instruction had improperly addressed the weight of the evidence, thereby undermining the defendant’s legitimate defense that the State had not linked the large knife to the crime and invading the province of the jury. 421 Md. at 451 - 54. Distinguishing the events of the trial from those in Evans, the Atkins Court noted, that, in contrast to the theories advanced by the prosecution in Evans, the State’s theory that the defendant had used the large knife was speculative and uncorroborated by other evidence.

In addition, in contrast to the “robust and vehement” defense closing argument about the court found that the Saldarriaga instruction was “not substantially different in substance” from the one at issue in the case before it. 174 Md. App. at 570 . 5 lack of forensic evidence in Evans, defense counsel in Atkins had reasonably elicited the lack of forensic evidence related to the knife in cross-examination, and had neither distorted the law nor overstated the State’s burden of proof. Id. at 450. Accordingly, the Court reversed the conviction as violative of the defendant’s right to a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Articles 21 and 23 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. The Court cautioned that it was not holding that such an instruction could never be given.

Rather, a neutral instruction that holds the prosecution to its continuing burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt – as the Evans court had indicated – could be appropriate in certain circumstances. 421 Md. at 454 - 55.6 A concurring opinion joined by three judges provided background on the perceived “CSI effect” of police television dramas – that jurors who watch television might have unrealistic expectations as to the availability and results of forensic investigative techniques – and on the efforts to counter that perceived effect, including development of anti-CSI effect instructions. 421 Md. at 456-73 (Harrell, J., concurring). The concurring opinion emphasized that a curative anti-CSI effect instruction could be appropriate if a defense argument went beyond arguing a lack of forensic evidence to suggesting to the 6 The Court advised that the “better practice” is for a trial judge to refrain from commenting on inferences to be drawn by the jury. 421 Md. at 454 n.8 (“While it would be proper to tell the jury that the State may prove its case by whatever means it chooses, we caution against commenting in the negative, i.e., what the State does not have to do, as this practice, considering the context in which the instruction is given, runs the risk of relieving the State of its burden.”). 6 jury that the prosecution was required to use specific techniques to prove its case. Id. at 473 . Stabb The Court reiterated its analysis a few months later in Stabb and held that the anti- CSI effect instruction given at the trial in that case violated the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial.

Stabb concerned an alleged sexual assault of a seven-year old girl. The defense cross-examined a social worker who had interviewed the girl about the social worker’s decision not to refer the girl for a Sexual Assault Forensics Exam (“SAFE”). During a jury instruction conference of the trial judge and counsel, the prosecution proposed the anti-CSI effect instruction described above. Defense counsel objected to the instruction as “burden shifting” and asserted that it would be appropriate only if the defense argument was “robust or vehement” on a need for the prosecution to present forensic evidence.

The trial judge gave the anti-CSI effect instruction prior to closing arguments. The jury returned a guilty verdict. 423 Md. at 462-75 . This Court reversed the conviction. The Court reiterated that, although an anti-CSI effect instruction is “not improper per se,” the trial court had abused its discretion in giving such an instruction preemptively. 423 Md. at 462-63 .

First, the Court reviewed recent scholarly research as to whether the supposed “CSI effect” actually existed – i.e., whether jurors are actually influenced by television to believe incorrectly that the prosecution must present forensic evidence to meet its burden of proof. Ultimately, the Court concluded that the research was inconsistent and inconclusive. Id. at 467-70 . 7 The Court then observed that the “missing” forensic evidence in Stabb (DNA or fingerprints that would have established that the defendant had inappropriately touched the girl) was not as critical to the prosecution as the missing forensic evidence in Atkins that might have linked the knife to the assault in that case. Nevertheless, even though the defense had pointed out other deficiencies in the State’s case, the absence of corroborating scientific evidence was “an integral part of the defense theories.” 423 Md. at 471 .

The Court found that it was problematic for the trial court to give a preemptive anti- CSI effect instruction before the defense counsel’s closing argument. The Court noted that defense counsel did not place “undue emphasis” or “‘harp’ impermissibly” on the lack of scientific evidence in arguing that the girl’s story was not corroborated. 423 Md. at 471 . The Court observed that the defense argued that the prosecution had failed to meet its burden in a number of ways, only one of which was the failure to perform a SAFE exam. The Court concluded that, in giving the anti-CSI effect instruction, the trial judge “directed effectively the jurors” not to consider the absence of corroborating physical evidence, and, by doing so, had invaded the province of the jury.

Id. at 472 . The Court warned that use of the instruction is “fraught with the potential for reversible error” and that it is best employed as a curative instruction to correct “pre-existing overreaching by the defense.” Id. at 473 . Robinson Several years after the Atkins and Stabb decisions, the Court repeated much of the analysis from those decisions in Robinson. It again reversed a conviction from a trial at which an anti-CSI effect instruction had been given – the same instruction described above. 8 436 Md. at 563, 568, 574 .

The trial had taken place in 2011 just a month before the Atkins decision was issued. The Court again expressed some skepticism as to whether a “CSI effect” in fact exists and reiterated the guidance from the Stabb decision that, in the absence of certainty on that score, an anti-CSI effect instruction should not be given preemptively, but only as a curative instruction. Id. at 576-79 .7 Hall Hall arose out of a trial in early 2010, before the Atkins or Stabb decisions, of charges related to a carjacking. The prosecution requested that the court give the anti-CSI effect instruction described above, and the trial court did so. 437 Md. at 538 .

Defense counsel objected to the instruction, stating as grounds that the instruction intimated that “it’s okay if the State doesn’t have forensic or physical or scientific evidence.” On appeal, the State conceded that, under Atkins and Stabb, the trial court abused its discretion in giving that instruction. This Court agreed. Stating that a trial court abuses its discretion in giving an anti-CSI effect instruction “where the defendant does not misstate the law,” the Court concluded that defense counsel had not misstated the law and that the trial court had abused its discretion in giving the instruction. 437 Md. at 540 . But the Court found that the error was harmless – a holding that we shall discuss later in this opinion.

See Part III.C of this opinion. 7 Two judges dissented, reasoning that the instruction in Robinson, taken in context, functioned as a curative instruction when defense counsel’s opening statement recited a litany of scientific evidence that the prosecution would not present and equated the lack of such evidence with an absence of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. 436 Md. at 581-84 (Watts, J., dissenting). 9 Summary The Court has never absolutely forbidden the use of an anti-CSI effect instruction and has been careful to say that such an instruction is “not improper per se.” Indeed, both this Court and the Court of Special Appeals have acknowledged that the instruction is a correct statement of the law, as the prosecution is ordinarily not required to make its case by any particular type of evidence. Atkins, 421 Md. at 447 ; Evans, 174 Md. App. at 570 . A related instruction given at most trials states that circumstantial evidence is just as good as direct evidence.8 Still, the Court’s decisions reflect a skepticism about the existence of a “CSI effect” and that question raises a concern whether the instruction is necessary – i.e., whether it is a solution in search of a problem. More importantly, what matters is whether the content of an anti-CSI effect instruction, viewed in the context of the evidence at trial, the other instructions, and the parties’ arguments, has the effect of undermining or “neutering” the critical (and constitutional) principle that the prosecution always bears the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

When an anti-CSI effect instruction has that effect, it violates the defendant’s right to a fair trial, and the trial court abuses its discretion in giving the instruction. 8 Maryland State Bar Association, Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, MPJI-Cr 3.01 (2d ed. 2012) (“The law makes no distinction between the weight to be given to either direct or circumstantial evidence. No greater degree of certainty is required of circumstantial than of direct evidence.”); 1 David E. Aaronson, Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary (2018) §2.02 (“A conviction may rest on circumstantial evidence alone, on direct evidence alone, or on a combination of circumstantial and direct evidence. No greater degree of certainty is required when the evidence is circumstantial than when it is direct.”). 10 This Court’s prior cases have held that an anti-CSI effect instruction crosses that line when the trial court gives it preemptively before there is any “defense overreaching” that suggests to the jury that the prosecution is required to present forensic evidence to bear its burden of proof.9 Thus, the Court has viewed such an instruction as most appropriately given as a curative instruction. In addition, because of the perceived danger that the instruction could minimize the prosecution’s burden of proof, any such instruction must also refer to the prosecution’s continuing burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

II Background This case arose from a home invasion of the apartment of a college student in Salisbury on June 13, 2008. On August 18, 2008, the grand jury in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County charged Mr. Taylor with first, third, and fourth-degree burglary, attempted second-degree rape, robbery, second-degree assault, indecent exposure, malicious destruction of property worth less than $500, and theft of property worth less than $100. Mr. Taylor’s trial took place in the Circuit Court on December 4, 2008. At the outset of the trial, the State dismissed the attempted second-degree rape charge.

During the trial, 9 This can be a problematic line for a trial court to draw. As a matter in the realm of human endeavor, a prosecution case is never perfect. It is a common, and fair, defense argument that something is missing from it. Whether that means there is a reasonable doubt is up to the jury.

But it can be a subtle and difficult thing for a court to decide when this common defense argument amounts to “overreaching.” 11 the State presented the testimony of the victim concerning the invasion of her home and the testimony of three police officers who investigated the incident. Mr. Taylor elected not to testify and did not call any witnesses or introduce any exhibits. A. The Trial The Night of the Home Invasion During 2008, the victim was a student at Salisbury University and lived in a ground floor apartment in Salisbury. She testified that, on June 13, 2008, at approximately 1:00 a.m., she was about to go to bed and had just turned off the lights when she heard some knocks on her front door.

She turned on the living room light and an outside light. She looked through a peephole in the door, but she did not see anyone. She then opened the front door “just a crack.” She leaned out the door to see a naked man to her left masturbating. Shocked, she immediately shut the door and, despite the man’s attempt to push his way in, was able to lock it.

She called 911. As the man began to bang on the door, she remained on the line with the dispatcher and retrieved a knife from the kitchen. According to the victim, the man eventually managed to push the door in, breaking the locks, and entered the apartment. When he entered the apartment, the man was wearing only a gray T-shirt around his neck.

He pulled the T-shirt over the lower part of his face for a few seconds, but then let go of it, revealing his face. The man did not say anything. The victim testified that, once inside the apartment, the man alternately charged at her and retreated while she screamed, ordering him to get out and warning him that the police were on their way. She said that, at one point, the man “cornered” her in the doorway to her bedroom.

He came towards her and grabbed the arm in which she held the knife. 12 She was able to wrest her arm free and believed that the knife “made contact” with the man without cutting him. The man then rifled through her book bag and surveyed other items on the kitchen counter and a coffee table. He ultimately left the apartment with her purse and wallet. The victim testified that, although she did not know the man, she could see his face clearly in the bright light of her living room (and possibly kitchen light) after the T-shirt fell away from his face.

She described the man as having a chubby face, with very prominent cheekbones, “sunken in” eyes, and light facial hair of a couple days’ growth. The police arrived shortly after the man left the apartment. In her testimony, the victim estimated that the entire encounter lasted three or four minutes. The 911 call, which began shortly before the man entered the apartment and ended after the police arrived, lasted one minute and twenty seconds.

A recording of the 911 call was introduced into evidence and played for the jury. The police officer who first responded to the 911 call testified that he observed “approximately eight golf ball sized dents” in the front door of the apartment and that it appeared that the dead bolt on the door had been separated from the door by an impact from the outside. The officer observed the knife that had been wielded by the victim, but he did not process it as evidence or take it for testing because, according to the officer, the victim did not tell him that it had touched her assailant. The officer observed cigarette butts near the front stoop of the apartment, but he did not take them as evidence because the victim herself was a smoker.

The officer had been told that other officers saw a T-shirt 13 and sneakers in a field near the apartment, but he did not believe that those items had been collected as evidence. Subsequent Investigation and Identification of Mr. Taylor The detective who was assigned to be the lead investigator in the case testified that he learned that the apartment door had not been tested for fingerprints before it was replaced by a new door shortly after the home invasion. Later on the day of the incident, he located the door elsewhere in the apartment complex, confirmed that there were several golf ball sized dents in it, and dusted the handle and upper part of the door for fingerprints without success. He said that he did not take the victim’s knife because it was his understanding that the assailant had not touched it.

In addition, he also testified that the T- shirt and shoes seen in the field were not collected. Approximately one month after the incident, another detective with the Salisbury Police Department presented the victim with a photo array and asked her whether the man who had exposed himself to her and robbed her appeared in any of the photographs. She selected Mr. Taylor’s photograph within a few seconds and told the detective that she was positive that he was the person who had invaded her home. In her testimony at trial, the victim again identified Mr. Taylor as the man who had invaded her apartment, but she noted that he looked a little different in that his hair had grown out, his facial hair was thicker, and he appeared to have lost some weight.

Jury Instructions, Closing Argument, and Deliberations The trial testimony was completed during the morning of the trial, and the jury was dismissed for a lunch recess. While the jury was out of the courtroom, the trial judge and 14 counsel briefly discussed the jury instructions that the judge would give prior to closing arguments. At the end of that discussion, the trial judge advised counsel that “I will probably give an instruction, which I have given in the past because I believe it has been generated by the evidence, and perhaps will be argued by [defense counsel] concerning scientific evidence. Or lack thereof.” Neither Mr. Taylor nor the State responded to the judge’s statement.

That afternoon, after the jury had returned, the court instructed the jury. After providing general instructions on the burden of proof, presumption of innocence, the difference between evidence and argument, the right of the defendant to remain silent, and general considerations for evaluating testimony, the court specifically addressed eyewitness identification testimony: You have heard evidence that prior to this trial a witness identified the Defendant by what’s known as photographic array. It is for you to determine the reliability of any identification and give it the weight you believe it deserves. The identification of a defendant or of the defendant by a single eyewitness as the person who committed the crime, if believed beyond a reasonable doubt, can be enough evidence to convict the Defendant.

You must, however, examine the identification with great care. Immediately following that instruction, the court gave its “scientific evidence” instruction which, in its entirety, was as follows: There is no legal requirement that the State offer scientific evidence as a part of its case, such as DNA, fingerprinting, blood typing, fiber analysis, hair follicle analysis, or anything of that nature. As is evident, unlike the instruction given in the case law outlined in Part I of this opinion, this was a briefer version of an anti-CSI effect instruction that lacked the introductory sentences that tell the jury to base its decision on the evidence “or lack of evidence” and 15 the concluding sentence relating the instruction to the prosecution’s burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. This instruction also gave greater detail as to the types of evidence that the State is not required to present.

After giving its anti-CSI effect instruction, the court discussed the concept of intent, as distinct from motive, and finally reviewed the elements of each of the charges against Mr. Taylor. At the conclusion of the court’s instructions, the trial judge asked counsel whether they had any “additions or exceptions.” Defense counsel excepted to the court’s anti-CSI effect instruction, stating “Your Honor, I would just except to the Court’s scientific evidence instruction.”10 The court replied “All right” and turned to the prosecutor, who then excepted to the instruction concerning the elements of the robbery charge. Although the trial judge did not explicitly deny either party’s exception, he effectively did so in not providing any further instruction to the jury prior to closing argument. In closing argument, defense counsel stressed that the only evidence linking Mr. Taylor to the incident was the identification made by the victim, who had only a little more than a minute to observe her assailant.

While acknowledging that there was no requirement that the State present DNA evidence, defense counsel observed that there was no evidence apart from the identification to corroborate that Mr. Taylor was involved in the crime. In rebuttal argument, the prosecutor also briefly alluded to the absence of DNA and 10 The anti-CSI effect instruction was the only instance in which the trial court referred to “scientific evidence” in its instructions. 16 fingerprint evidence, arguing that any such evidence was unlikely to be found as a result of the incident. After deliberating for an hour, the jury sent the court a note stating that it was “evenly split” as to whether to find Mr. Taylor guilty or not guilty and asking whether a hung jury would be acceptable. In response, the court gave a version of a modified Allen charge11 without directly answering whether a hung jury would be acceptable.

It sent the jury back to the jury room for further deliberations. The jury returned approximately two hours later with a verdict finding Mr. Taylor guilty of all of the charges against him – burglary in the first, third, and fourth degrees, robbery, second-degree assault, indecent exposure, malicious destruction of property worth less than $500, and theft of property worth less than $100. Sentencing Before it dismissed the jury, the court immediately sentenced Mr. Taylor to 17 years imprisonment for first-degree burglary, 10 years for robbery, and three years for indecent exposure. The sentences were to run consecutively, for a total of 30 years imprisonment.

The court merged the remaining convictions for purposes of sentencing.12 The court 11 A modified Allen charge, as approved by this Court, encourages jurors who have indicated a lack of unanimity to continue to deliberate and reconsider their respective positions in light of the views of other jurors while not surrendering individual honest convictions. See Armacost v. Davis, 462 Md. 504 , 519-20 n.9 (2019). The trial court’s modified Allen charge in this case is set forth verbatim in the opinion of the Court of Special Appeals. 236 Md. App. 397, 445-46 (2018). 12 The court merged the convictions on the two lesser burglary counts into the conviction for first-degree burglary, and merged the convictions for assault, theft, and malicious destruction of property into the robbery conviction. 17 advised Mr. Taylor of his right to pursue an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals and his right to seek review of his sentence by a three-judge panel of the Circuit Court. Mr. Taylor’s attorney advised him on the record that he would “file the appropriate paperwork on [his] behalf.” B. The Belated Direct Appeal No appeal was timely filed on Mr. Taylor’s behalf.

Almost eight years later, in June 2016, Mr. Taylor filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief, alleging that his trial attorney had provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to file a notice of appeal and an application for review of his sentence by a three-judge panel. The State agreed that Mr. Taylor was entitled to relief, and he was permitted to pursue a belated appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed Mr. Taylor’s convictions. Taylor v. State, 236 Md. App. 397 (2018).

Among the issues raised by Mr. Taylor in the intermediate appellate court was whether the trial court had erred by giving its anti-CSI effect instruction.13 The Court of Special Appeals concluded that the trial court had erred in giving the anti-CSI effect instruction, but that the error was harmless. Mr. Taylor filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on several issues, including the anti-CSI effect instruction. Pertinent to that issue, the State filed a conditional cross- 13 Before the Court of Special Appeals, Mr. Taylor also argued that the trial court had coerced a verdict in giving its version of the modified Allen charge and that the trial court had impermissibly considered juvenile matters and unproven charges in fashioning a sentence more severe than that recommended under the State’s sentencing guidelines. 236 Md. App. at 444-56 . Neither issue is before us. 18 petition for certiorari, raising the questions whether Mr. Taylor had adequately preserved the issue in the trial court and whether it was appropriate for the Court of Special Appeals to consider post-trial case law on the propriety of an anti-CSI effect instruction in deciding the issue in Mr. Taylor’s case.

We granted Mr. Taylor’s petition with respect to the anti- CSI effect instruction, as well as the State’s cross-petition.14 III Discussion Rearranging the issues raised by the parties in a logical order of decision, we address the following questions: 1. Whether Mr. Taylor preserved his objection to the anti-CSI effect instruction. 14 This appeal found its way to this Court by a more convoluted route than is usually the case. Mr. Taylor filed his initial petition for a writ of certiorari in May 2018. The Court granted that petition and the State’s cross-petition in July 2018, but also added its own question whether there was appellate jurisdiction to consider Mr. Taylor’s belated appeal.

Two weeks later, the Court dismissed the petition as improvidently granted and also denied a subsequent motion for reconsideration, with two judges opining in dissent that there was no appellate jurisdiction because the belated appeal had been granted by the circuit court by a “consent order” in which Mr. Taylor waived his right to pursue any further postconviction relief, without the circuit court holding a hearing or ruling on the merits of the postconviction petition, as required by the Maryland Rules. This Court subsequently held, in Rosales v. State, 463 Md. 552 (2019), that a failure to file an appeal within the time limit set forth in the Maryland Rules, while ordinarily a basis for dismissal of the appeal, does not divest an appellate court of jurisdiction to hear the appeal. Subsequently, Mr. Taylor sought to re-open postconviction proceedings in the Circuit Court. In December 2019, the Circuit Court re-opened the postconviction proceedings and found that ineffective assistance of counsel had deprived Mr. Taylor of the opportunity to have this Court consider his petition for certiorari.

As relief, it authorized him to file a belated petition for writ of certiorari with this Court. In March 2020, we granted Mr. Taylor’s new petition to the extent indicated in the text, as well as the State’s cross-petition. 19 2. Whether, under the law that applies in this belated appeal, the trial court abused its discretion when it gave the anti-CSI effect instruction. 3. If the trial court erred in giving the anti-CSI effect instruction, whether that error was harmless.

For the reasons set forth below, we hold that: (1) Mr. Taylor sufficiently preserved his objection to the anti-CSI effect instruction; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in giving its anti-CSI effect instruction in the circumstances of this case; and (3) that abuse of discretion was not a harmless error. A. Preservation The Maryland Rules require that a party make a contemporaneous objection to a jury instruction to preserve an argument that the instruction was erroneous. In particular, Rule 4-325(e) states, in pertinent part, that “[n]o party may assign as error the giving [of] … an instruction unless the party objects on the record promptly after the court instructs the jury, stating distinctly the matter to which the party objects and the grounds