NOTICE TO COUNSEL- Regarding the Criminal Docket In an effort to make the handling of our criminal dockets more effective, the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County has instituted some changes in the way criminal cases are handled. 1. The Sheriff's Department has agreed to open the courtroom in which the criminal docket is held beginning at 8:30 a.m. It is hoped that counsel will find that additional time useful to finalize any necessary discussions. 2. The calling of the criminal docket will begin at 9:00 a.m. All counsel should be present at that time, prepared to advise the presiding judge of the status of their matters. If you are needed in another courtroom, please begin your day in the courtroom where the criminal docket is being called. If that is not possible for any reason, please notify the courtroom clerk or the Judge's Chambers in advance, preferably the day before, as to which courtroom you will be in, what you will be doing, and how long it will take. If you are not planning to be in the courthouse at all by 9:00, you must obtain advance permission from the Judge handling the criminal docket (if known) or Judge Hackner. When seeking permission to arrive late, be prepared to advise the court of the status of your case. If you anticipate a trial, particularly a jury trial, it is not likely that you will be allowed to arrive late. 3. At the initial call of the docket, be prepared to advise the Court whether or not your case will be a trial and specifically whether or not you require a jury. We cannot wait until late morning to find out whether or not your case is going to trial. We must have this information so that we can better utilize our backup Judges and our available jury pool. Keep in mind that the criminal docket is not the only scheduled event for which the judges and jurors are needed. By following this procedure, we can insure that a so-called one-day trial can truly be handled in one day rather than carry over. 4. If you are seeking a postponement of any event, including a status conference, prior to the court date, the postponement request must be coordinated with Nancy Baker and proposed new dates must be cleared. If the postponement will, in any way, implicate the Hicks Rule, a Hicks waiver or finding of good cause must be made in open court, with the Defendant present. Written waivers will not be acceptable. If necessary, you may coordinate a postponement/Hicks hearing with my office. If I am unavailable, Judge Mulford is designated as my backup for criminal postponements and good cause findings. 5. Generally, all pre-trial motions should be scheduled for the afternoon docket so that there may be more Judges available to hear them. 6. Status conferences are intended to be meaningful events. Counsel may not waive attendance at a status conference. The Court will expect counsel to be prepared at the status conference to enter a plea if appropriate. If a plea is not appropriate, counsel should be prepared to describe in detail the status of the matter and discuss any problems that might affect the handling of the case. Full discovery must be exchanged and meaningful plea discussions must be held sufficiently in advance of the status conference so that the case may be disposed of on that date, if appropriate. Defense counsel should meet with their client to discuss the case and any plea offers prior to the date of the status conference or be prepared to explain why that was not done. 7. If the parties are not adequately prepared for the status conference, the Court may reschedule the status conference. It is the court's policy to reserve the trial docket for cases that are ready and require a trial. Cases will not be routinely passed for trial simply because the matter is unprepared at the status conference. If any counsel is unable to attend the status conference, a request for postponement must be made as for any other Court proceeding. 8. Counsel should not hand off appearances at status conference or any other proceeding to a colleague unless the substitute attorney is fully informed of the details that the Court will be inquiring about. 9. If you are aware of a case that requires more than a day of Court time, contact the Assignment Office and the Jury Office. This is necessary so that the court can attempt to provide an adequate number of backup judges and jurors. 10. If you will need an interpreter, contact the Assignment Office immediately. Keep in mind that the number of available interpreters is limited and a delay in notifying the court may result in the inability to handle a case on the scheduled date. Also, please be specific when requesting an interpreter and identify the particular dialect that may be involved when necessary. For instance, telling the court that you need a "Chinese" or "Indian" interpreter is inadequate, as there are several languages spoken in many countries that are not interchangeable. 11. Judges Hackner and Mulford will make themselves available to take guilty pleas in any case where the parties have an agreed plea (whether it's an ABA plea or not). Guilty pleas can be set for any date that is convenient to counsel and the court. You can contact either judge's office directly to set up a plea hearing. Pleas will normally be set for 3:30 p.m. to minimize interference with other matters set before the court. Pleas can not be specially set before any other judges, unless the case has been assigned to that judge. If you have any other suggestions for improving the handling of criminal cases, please free to contact me. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. PAUL A. HACKNER
Criminal Case Coordinating Judge
. As you know, habeas corpus petitions are filed as civil matters. The civil clerk does not have access to the criminal docket information. Therefore, all that the judge receives from the clerk is the bare petition without any additional information. In order for your petition to be acted upon in an appropriate manner, please comply with the requirements outlined in this memo. Please note that these requirements only pertain to habeas corpus petitions and not to requests for bail review that are filed in the criminal case itself. When filing a petition for habeas corpus on behalf of a defendant who is pending trial, please include a copy of the statement of charges. Also include documentation showing the last order relating to defendant’s current bond. This could be a copy of a District Court or Circuit Court docket sheet or a print out reflecting a judge's or commissioner's determination. In addition, please be sure that every habeas petition clearly identifies the associated criminal case number and which court it is pending in. The petition should specify the basis for the contention that defendant's detention is unlawful. A generic statement that defendant is unable to post bond is insufficient. Please pass this information on to your colleagues. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me. Paul Hackner
Criminal Case Coordinating Judge
Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County
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