The Maryland Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear follow-up oral arguments regarding the implementation of the DeWolfe v. Richmond case, which required attorney representation for indigent individuals at bail review, on Wednesday, May 6.The additional oral arguments stem from an order issued March 11, 2014 in which the Court extended a stay on the case to 4:30 p.m. on June 5, 2014. The order states:

(1) The court will not revisit DeWolfe v. Richmond, 434 Md. 444, 76 A.3d 1019 (2013);

(2) The court will retain jurisdiction of this matter to revise the injunction issued by the Circuit Court; and

(3) The parties shall return to this Court for further oral argument concerning what action the Court should take to revise the injunction and what revisions should be made based on all then extant circumstances, including any legislative action; [emphasis added]

Arguments are scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on May 6 and will be lived streamed on the Court’s webcast site. Appellee’s and appellant’s briefs as well as previously submitted documents, stays, motions and orders may be found on the court’s website. The preceding oral arguments, which were held March 7, 2014, may be viewed here.

As previously reported on Conduit Street, in oral arguments held March 7, 2014, Judge Lynne A. Battaglia made it clear that the option for the Maryland Court of Appeals to go back on its decision in DeWolfe v. Richmond was off the table. Instead the Court of Appeals delayed enforcement of its ruling requiring the right to an attorney at bail review in order to allow the General Assembly time to enact legislation to address the issue. Subsequently, the General Assembly addressed the issue by incorporating budget language to partially fund panel attorneys (with counties are expected to pay the difference) rather than passing more comprehensive reform legislation. The Court of Appeals is now set to continue arguments focused on implementation of attorneys at bail review.