Federal Court Of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit Denies Restitution
MCVRC convinced the federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to agree that a lower court’s ruling denying a crime victim restitution because the request would prolong and complicate the sentencing process was an abuse of discretion and should be revisited.
Court Of Special Appeals Allows Family of Homicide Victims To Play A Video Montage
MCVRC won a ruling in the Court of Special Appeals when it found that family members of two homicide victims could play a video montage of their loved ones set to music, at sentencing, and that doing this was neither prejudicial or inflammatory.
Judge Allowed Crime Victims To Offer Statements About How They Were Affected
MCVRC secured an order from a 3-judge panel that recognized the right of multiple crime victims to offer statements about how they were affected by the murder of their loved one; this, after the defendant argued that only one statement per homicide victim was legally permissible.
Maryland v. Jedlicka
MCVRC represented the victim’s family in State of Maryland v. Jedlicka, a case heard by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. The issue was whether Mr. Jedlicka’s sentence was illegal and needed to be revised. MCVRC argued against this issue and won, stating that Jedlicka’s sentence is “legal and constitutional”, and that “he should serve the time the court ordered”.
MCVRC Ensured Victim Participation In The Parole Process
MCVRC ensured victim participation in the parole process, when, after realizing that an inmate was paroled without any input from the victim’s family members, appealed to the Parole Commission for a re-hearing. The Commission agreed to re-hear the inmate’s parole status, and after listening to powerful testimony from the murder victim’s son and daughter-in-law, this time denied the inmate parole.