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Curry v. State

2026-10-05

Authorities cited

Opinion

majority opinion

Devin K. Curry v. State of Maryland, No. 13, September Term, 2025. Opinion by Getty, Joseph M., J.

HEADNOTES:

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Case No. 122131001

REPORTED

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF MARYLAND

No. 13

September Term, 2025

DEVIN K. CURRY

v.

STATE OF MARYLAND

Graeff,

Shaw,

Getty, Joseph M.

(Senior Judge, Specially Assigned),

JJ.

Opinion by Getty, J.

Filed: October 5, 2026

Pursuant to the Maryland Uniform Electronic Legal

Materials Act (§§ 10-1601 et seq. of the State

Government Article) this document is authentic.

2026.10.05

15:56:17 -04'00'

Gregory Hilton, Clerk

Appellant, Devin K. Curry, was indicted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for

first-degree murder. He was tried before a jury from July 9 through 12, 2024, which

resulted in a mistrial. This interlocutory appeal stems solely from events which occurred

after the jury began its deliberations.

As the jury was deliberating, there were two instances in which the court

communicated with the jury without first informing and consulting counsel. In one of these

communications, the jury indicated that they would not be able to reach a unanimous

verdict. The court then declared a mistrial sua sponte, over defense counsel’s objection.

Following the mistrial, Mr. Curry’s attorney filed a Motion to Dismiss for Double

Jeopardy. The court denied Mr. Curry’s motion to dismiss,1 and this appeal followed. On

appeal, Mr. Curry presents three questions for our review, which we have rephrased for

brevity and clarity:2

1

Two different judges of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City presided over Mr. Curry’s trial and the hearing on his motion to dismiss. We hereinafter refer to the former as the “trial judge” and the latter as the “motions judge.”

2

Mr. Curry’s verbatim questions presented are:

I. Did the Trial Judge Violate Mr. Curry’s Constitutional Rights and Maryland

Rule 4-326(d) by communicating with the jury outside Mr. Curry’s Presence

about Matters Directly Pertaining to the Trial; by not Notifying Mr. Curry and

his Attorney of the Communications and Inviting them to State Their Position

on the Record, Before Responding to the Communications; and by Failing to

Ensure Compliance with Rule 4-326(d), thereby Committing Clear, Reversible

Error?

II. Did the Trial Judge Erroneously Declare a Mistrial, by Failing to Analyze

Whether there was Manifest Necessity for a Mistrial, without Adequate

Consideration and after Rejecting Two Reasonable Alternatives.

1. Did the trial judge abuse his discretion by communicating with the

jury outside of Mr. Curry’s presence and without first informing and

consulting Mr. Curry’s counsel?

2. Did the trial judge abuse his discretion by declaring a mistrial?

3. Did the motions judge err in denying Mr. Curry’s motion to dismiss?

As we shall explain, we conclude that the first question presented is moot due to the

trial judge’s subsequent declaration of a mistrial. We answer the second and third questions

in the negative, and we conclude the opinion with a note on the Maryland Electronic Courts

(“MDEC”) security settings. Finally, we affirm the judgment of the Circuit Court.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Curry allegedly shot and killed Daniel Pitts on April 14, 2022. He was indicted

by a grand jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on May 11, 2022, and his trial

commenced on July 9, 2024. After two and a half days of trial, counsel concluded their

closing arguments around midday on July 11. The jury was dismissed for lunch and

instructed to begin deliberations when they returned at around 1:00 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., the

jury gave a note to the court requesting the trial recording in its entirety.3 The following

morning, the trial judge convened the parties to advise them of the jury’s request.

III. Did the Motions Judge Erroneously Affirm the Mistrial by Committed Errors of

Fact and Failing to Recognize that the Trial Court Violated Rule 4-326(d) and

Mr. Curry’s Constitutional Rights.

3

In his brief, Mr. Curry argues that he should receive a new trial because the clerk of the court failed to comply with Md. Rule 4-326(d)(3), which provides that “the clerk shall enter in the electronic or paper file each written communication from the jury or a juror and each written response by the judge[.]” As we will discuss further at the conclusion of this opinion, the jury notes were included in the record, but were only visible in the Maryland Electronic Courts (“MDEC”) system to the trial court judge and court personnel. Counsel

2

THE COURT: Thank you.

There was a question from the jurors.

Madam Clerk, could I have the question please.

THE CLERK: Yes.

THE COURT: Okay. Ms. Westus (phonetic), can we please have court

recordings in the entirety? So they want to play the whole trial over again,

but first, David King’s testimony. I’ll hear from you, [Counsel for the State].

[THE STATE]: Your Honor, this statute, I think, that gives the Court the

authority to play testimony and let the jury review evidence, I believe is 4-231. It gives the Court authority to make that decision as long as it’s not

lopsided towards one side or the other. That’s my understanding of the

statute. So that’s all the State [has] to say. I would defer to the defense.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: May I use my phone? Sorry, Your Honor. And for

the record, Rule 4-326 does give the Court authority to send back any

evidence the jury requests to hear. It’s the defense position that they should

be authorized or allowed to relisten to testimony that they deem is necessary

for them—

THE COURT: So they deem the whole trial necessary.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, it seems to me that they are

potentially having a dispute over what was or was not said by certain

witnesses. I think that’s probably crucial to their ability to make a

determination in this case. So I’d ask that they’d be permitted to listen to

whatever they need to in order to make a determination in this case.

THE COURT: Thank you. I’m going to deny your request. I told the jury that

they must go on their own memory of the case and their notes, and that’s the

Court’s ruling.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Understood, Your Honor. We will note our

objection.

After several more hours of deliberations, the trial judge reconvened the parties later

that afternoon to inform them of the jury’s progress.

could not see the documents listed as docket entries or as part of the Appeal Index, because of the security setting in MDEC.

3

THE COURT: Thank you. It’s my understanding—I spoke to the jurors, and

that they could not come to a unanimous decision on any of the charges. They

were out for a good almost five hours yesterday and all of today, and I am

planning on declaring a mistrial. Did you want to make a record, either one

of you?

[THE STATE]: No, Your Honor.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I would ask—may I have a brief moment to confer

with Mr. Curry?

(Pause.)

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Thank you, Your Honor. Was there any indication

from the jurors about where they were and whether there was a significant

minority or minimal minority; whether they were 11 to 1 or 6 to 6? Because

if there is a huge gap between verdicts—or reaching a verdict here—

unanimity, I should say—then I think it might be pointless to request an Allen

charge. But if they’re pretty close, I think the defense would request an Allen

charge and ask them to consider. I know we’re close to the end of the day,

but this would give them some time to—

The trial judge then asked counsel to approach the bench and advised that the jury

had a split of nine votes to three in favor of convicting Mr. Curry.4 Counsel returned to

their respective trial tables and defense counsel made a request for an Allen charge in open

court.5

4

Although the trial judge revealed that he had spoken with the jurors, he did not place on the record the facts concerning how he learned of the deadlock and the split in votes between the jurors, or how he came to speak with the jurors.

5

An “Allen charge,” or an “Allen-type” charge, is a jury instruction derived from the United States Supreme Court case Allen v. United States, 164 U.S. 492 (1896), in which the judge asks the jury to “conciliate their differences and reach a verdict.” Simms v. State, 240 Md. App. 606, 613 n.1 (2019) (citations omitted).

Maryland’s Allen-type instruction can be found in Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction 2:01, which reads:

4

THE COURT: Did you want to make the record?

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Yes, Your Honor. The defense would make a

request for an Allen charge given the current standing of the jurors. We’d ask

that those in the minority continue—reconsider their position in order to

reach a unanimous verdict.

THE COURT: I’m going to deny your request, Counsel. The juror has made

it very clear that they aren’t close, and the parties are not changing their

position. They’ve tried since all of yesterday and all of today, and that wasn’t

happening. So this Court will grant a mistrial. Thank you.

The jury was brought back into the courtroom and the foreperson confirmed that

they had been unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The trial judge then declared a mistrial

and dismissed the jurors. The jury’s verdict sheet is included in the record, on which the

following was handwritten in printed letters: “Couldn’t come to a decision. I declared a

mistrial.” The sheet was signed and dated by the jury foreperson.6

Defense counsel filed a Motion to Dismiss for Double Jeopardy on October 17,

2024, arguing that the trial judge failed to pursue any reasonable alternatives to declaring

The verdict must be the considered judgment of each of you. In order to reach

a verdict, all of you must agree. In other words, your verdict must be

unanimous. You must consult with one another and deliberate with a view to

reaching an agreement if you can do so without violence to your individual

judgment. Each of you must decide the case for yourself, but do so only after

an impartial consideration of the evidence with your fellow jurors.

During deliberations, do not hesitate to reexamine your own views. You

should change your opinion if convinced you are wrong, but do not surrender

your honest belief as to the weight and effect of the evidence only because

of the opinion of your fellow jurors, or for the mere purpose of reaching a

verdict.

6

The verdict sheet did not include a time stamp, so it is unclear if the sheet was given to the trial judge before or after his discussion with the jury concerning the deadlock.

5

a mistrial, citing the trial judge’s decision not to provide the trial recording to the jury when

requested and not to give an Allen charge when the deadlock was revealed. A hearing was

held on February 24, 2025, after which the motions judge issued a Memorandum Order

denying the motion. In the order, the motions judge explained:

Of course, the court is required to consider whether the trial judge considered

alternatives to granting the mistrial. The trial judge, who oversaw the case,

and who was confident, based on what had been conveyed to him, that the

juror factions were resolute in their positions, did not abuse his discretion

when he exercised his discretion in favor of granting a mistrial. He did not

fail to recognize he had discretion either to deny the request for an Allen

charge or to offer an Allen charge and require additional deliberations.

Neither did he fail to consider whether additional time would likely result in

the jury reaching a verdict as he was convinced the jurors were not going to

move from their positions.

And, although Defendant now contends the court should have essentially

provided the [full] transcript to the jury, he did not re-raise the issue once the

deadlock was revealed. Even had the judge declined to do so in an effort to

address the deadlock, the judge’s discretion, if exercised in that regard,

would have been well within acceptable standards.

In short, the judge exercised, but did not abuse his discretion when he

determined an Allen charge would not yield results given the specific posture

of the case. Consequently, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.

The motions judge’s order was entered on February 25, 2025, and Mr. Curry timely

noted his appeal on March 3, 2025.

DISCUSSION

I. Communications with the Jury

Mr. Curry’s first argument on appeal is that the trial judge abused his discretion by

communicating with the jurors ex parte, both in responding to their request and in

discussing their inability to reach a unanimous verdict. Mr. Curry claims that these

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communications were a violation of his right to be present at all phases of trial and of

Maryland Rule 4-326(d).7 Notably, the State does not challenge the factual underpinning

of this claim of error, saying in its brief that Mr. Curry’s claim is “substantiated” and had

“ample record support[.]” Instead, the State contends that the issue is not properly before

this Court because there is no remedy available to Mr. Curry. We agree and find that the

issue is moot.

“A question is moot if, at the time it is before the court, there is no longer an existing

controversy between the parties, so that there is no longer any effective remedy which the

court can provide.” Broadway v. State, 202 Md. App. 464, 486 (2011) (quoting Mercy

Hospital v. Jackson, 306 Md. 556, 561 (1986)).

In the context of Rule 4-326(d), our Supreme Court has been clear that a trial or

judgment is not valid “[i]f the communication [from the jury] is not disclosed [to counsel]

in a timely fashion or there has been no chance for input[.]” Grade v. State, 431 Md. 85,

97 (2013). Accordingly, then, the remedy for such a violation is a new trial. See id. at 107

(reversing and remanding for a new trial where the trial judge violated Rule 4-326(d) by

substituting a juror with an alternate without first consulting counsel); see also State v.

Harris, 428 Md. 700, 720–21 (2012) (holding that a violation of Rule 4-326 is “presumably

prejudicial” and requires reversal of the defendant’s conviction “unless the State can

7

Maryland Rule 4-326(d)(2)(C) provides that, when a judge receives a communication from the jury that pertains to the action, “the judge shall promptly, and before responding to the communication, direct that the parties be notified of the communication and invite and consider, on the record, the parties’ position on any response. The judge may respond to the communication in writing or orally in open court on the record.”

7

affirmatively prove otherwise.”); Stewart v. State, 334 Md. 213, 224–25 (1994) (stating

that the defendant’s right to be present for any communication between the jury and the

trial judge during deliberations is “absolute” and that “a judgment of conviction ordinarily

cannot be upheld if the record discloses a violation of the right.”).

In the instant case, however, there has been no judgment of conviction for us to

reverse. Had Mr. Curry been convicted, the burden would then be on the State to prove

beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial judge’s communications with the jury had not been

prejudicial, a burden the State could not likely meet given the position taken in its brief. In

that circumstance, Mr. Curry would be entitled to a new trial. Here, Mr. Curry’s case

resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial. He has not been convicted and instead will receive

a new trial—the exact remedy that would have been afforded to him for a violation of Rule

4-326(d). Because Mr. Curry is already receiving a new trial,8 there is no longer any

effective remedy for this Court to provide. Broadway, 202 Md. App. at 486. As such, the

issue is moot, and we will not decide it. See Attorney General v. Anne Arundel County

School Bus Contractors Ass’n, Inc., 286 Md. 324, 327 (1979) (“Generally, appellate courts

do not decide academic or moot questions.”).

8

The Circuit Court docket shows that Mr. Curry’s new trial was scheduled for August 5, 2025. This trial was later canceled, and the trial proceedings were stayed pending the resolution of the instant appeal.

8

II. Mistrial

a. Parties’ Contentions

Mr. Curry argues that the trial judge abused his discretion by declaring a mistrial

sua sponte because a mistrial was not manifestly necessary in this case. He contends that

“[t]he [c]ourt improperly and summarily rejected both of the reasonable alternatives to

declaring a mistrial that had been requested by Mr. Curry’s attorney. The [c]ourt also failed

to consider whether there [were] any other reasonable alternatives.” Mr. Curry then claims

that the motions judge “ignored all of these errors” when evaluating whether he could be

retried and therefore the denial of his motion to dismiss was “clear, reversible error.”

The State responds that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in finding that the

jury was deadlocked, and therefore a mistrial was manifestly necessary. The State

emphasizes that, “the trial court had before it (1) two days of deliberation, in aggregate

almost as long as the trial had been; (2) some private communication not on the record;

and (3) a note written on the verdict sheet indicating that the jury was deadlocked.”

b. Standard of Review

“[W]e review the trial judge’s grant of a mistrial for abuse of discretion.” State v.

Baker, 453 Md. 32, 46 (2017) (quoting Simmons v. State, 436 Md. 202, 212 (2013)). “It is

well-settled that a decision to grant a mistrial lies within the sound discretion of the trial

judge and that the trial judge’s determination will not be disturbed on appeal unless there

is abuse of discretion.” Id. (internal quotations omitted). “That is, we look to whether the

trial judge’s exercise of discretion was manifestly unreasonable, or exercised on untenable

grounds, or for untenable reasons.” Id. (internal quotations omitted).

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c. The Manifest Necessity Standard

“The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States

Constitution, made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides

that, ‘… nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of

life or limb.’” Simmons, 436 Md. at 213 (citing Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784 (1969)).

“In a jury trial, the Double Jeopardy Clause generally bars the retrial of a criminal

defendant for the same offense once a jury has been empaneled and sworn.” Id. “Retrial

is not automatically barred, however, when a criminal proceeding is concluded after

jeopardy attaches but without resolving the merits of the case.” Hubbard v. State, 395 Md.

73, 89 (2006).

In the event of a mistrial granted over the objection of the defendant, “double

jeopardy principles will not bar a retrial if there exists ‘manifest necessity’ for the mistrial.”

Simmons, 436 Md. at 213. “If, however, the mistrial was not manifestly necessary, then

the trial judge abused [the judge’s] discretion in declaring the mistrial, and retrial is barred

by double jeopardy principles.” Baker, 453 Md. at 47 (citing Hubbard, 395 Md. at 89).

Whether there exists manifest necessity to declare a mistrial depends “upon the

unique facts and circumstances of each case” but still demands a “high degree” of

necessity. Mansfield v. State, 422 Md. 269, 287 (2011). In addition to the “high degree of

necessity” component, our Supreme Court has also explained that the trial court must find

that no reasonable alternatives to a mistrial are actually available. Baker, 453 Md. at 48.

In summary, there exists “manifest necessity” for a mistrial only if 1) there

was a “high degree” of necessity for the mistrial; 2) the trial court engaged

“in the process of exploring reasonable alternatives” to a mistrial and

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determined that none was available; and 3) no reasonable alternative to a

mistrial was, in fact, available.

Id. at 49.

The absence of an explicit finding of manifest necessity does not automatically

render the trial court’s ruling constitutionally defective, but the reviewing court must be

“persuaded by the record that the trial judge acted responsibly and deliberately, and

accorded careful consideration to [the defendant’s] interest in having the trial concluded in

a single proceeding.” Id. (quoting Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 516 (1978)).

d. Analysis

Although the trial judge here did not make an explicit finding on the record that a

mistrial was manifestly necessary, he predicated his decision to declare a mistrial on the

fact that the jury was deadlocked. “A genuinely deadlocked jury is considered the

prototypical example of a manifest necessity for a mistrial.” State v. Fennell, 431 Md. 500,

516 (2013). Genuine deadlock requires “more than an impasse; it invokes a moment

where, if deliberations were to continue, there exists a significant risk that a verdict may

result from pressure inherent in the situation rather than the considered judgment of all the

jurors.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). However, an apparent deadlock does

not dispense with the requirement that the trial judge determine that no reasonable

alternative to a mistrial exists. Id. at 519–20. “In the context of a hung jury, therefore, the

trial court must determine ordinarily that genuine jury deadlock exists, such that further

deliberations are unlikely to be productive.” Id. at 520.

11

It is apparent from the trial judge’s remarks to counsel that he did not believe that

continued deliberations would be productive based on his conversation with the jurors.

THE COURT: It’s not close. It’s 9 to 3.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I don’t think that’s terribly—

THE COURT: It is. They have been [at it] the same way all yesterday and all

today. And made it very clear that that was not going to change.

The trial judge further expanded on the circumstances of the deadlock when denying

the defense’s request for an Allen charge, and again when speaking directly to the jurors in

open court before dismissing them.

THE COURT: I’m going to deny your request, Counsel. The juror has made

it very clear that they aren’t close, and the parties are not changing their

position. They’ve tried since all of yesterday and all of today, and that wasn’t

happening.

***

THE COURT: Please be seated. Good afternoon. It’s my understanding after

two days of deliberations you all cannot come to a verdict; is that correct?

MADAME FOREPERSON: Yes, sir.

JURY (IN UNISON): Yes, sir.

THE COURT: Thank you. You’ve informed me of that just a little while ago.

You’ve been deliberating almost two whole days, and the disparity is

sufficient enough for me to declare a mistrial.

The trial judge’s belief that the jury’s deadlock “was not going to change” was

further supported by the handwritten note in printed letters on the verdict sheet signed by

the jury foreperson, which expressed that the jury “[c]ouldn’t come to a decision.” Given

these circumstances, the trial judge’s decision that there was a genuine deadlock and that a

mistrial was manifestly necessary was not unreasonable, nor was it an abuse of discretion.

12

Mr. Curry, however, contends that the trial judge had two “reasonable alternatives”

available to him: (1) allowing the jury to review the trial recording; and (2) giving an Allen

charge. The decision whether to employ either of these options was within the sound

discretion of the trial judge. See, e.g. Nash v. State, 439 Md. 53, 90 (2014) (“[A] trial

judge’s decision whether to give a modified Allen charge is subject to review by this Court

for an abuse of discretion.”); Sidbury v. State, 414 Md. 180, 186 (2010) (“The decision of

whether to give supplemental instructions is within the sound discretion of the trial judge

and will not be disturbed on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion.”); see also Md. Rule

4-326(c) (providing that a trial judge “may make available to the jury testimony or other

evidence requested by it”) (emphasis added). Consistent with the discretion vested in trial

judges, our Supreme Court in State v. Fennell, 431 Md. at 517, reiterated precedent from

the United States Supreme Court, which has “never required a trial court, before declaring

a mistrial because of a hung jury, to consider any particular means of breaking the

impasse[.]” Blueford v. Arkansas, 566 U.S. 599, 609 (2012).

Accordingly, we will not impose such a requirement on the trial judge here. The

trial judge was “in the best position to assess all the factors which must be considered in

making a necessarily discretionary determination whether the jury will be able to reach a

just verdict if it continue[d] to deliberate[,]” Renico v. Lett, 559 U.S. 766, 774 (2010), and

we will defer to that determination. After nearly two days of deliberations, the jury clearly

expressed to the trial judge that they were at an impasse, from which the trial judge

concluded that “further deliberations [were] unlikely to be productive.” Fennell, 431 Md.

13

at 520. As such, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion by declaring a mistrial without

taking specific steps to break the impasse.

e. Motion to Dismiss for Double Jeopardy

“If granting a mistrial over objection was manifestly necessary, the defendant may

be retried without implicating the Double Jeopardy Clause[.]” Hubbard, 395 Md. at 89.

Because we conclude that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in determining that

there was manifest necessity to declare a mistrial, we then further conclude that the motions

judge did not err in denying Mr. Curry’s motion to dismiss. Mr. Curry may be retried

without implicating the Double Jeopardy Clause.

III. A Note on the Security Settings in MDEC

In his brief, Mr. Curry states that the jury notes for this case do not appear in the

record for this appeal. As a result, Mr. Curry contends that, in failing to include the relevant

jury notes in the case record, the court clerk did not comply with Md. Rule 4-326(d)(3),

which provides that “the clerk shall enter in the electronic or paper file each written

communication from the jury or a juror and each written response by the judge.” Mr. Curry

argues that this contributes to a violation of his constitutional right to be present at all stages

of his trial, and thus he should receive a new trial as a remedy. The State does not directly

address these claims in its brief.

We take this opportunity to note that counsel should be aware of the different

security settings in the Maryland Electronic Courts (“MDEC”) system and how those

settings impact access to record documents. MDEC is the electronic case management

processing and record-keeping system used in the State of Maryland’s court system.

14

“Through MDEC, state courts ‘collect, store and process records electronically, and will

be able to access complete records instantly as cases travel from District Court to Circuit

Court[.]’ In essence, MDEC allows for paper records to be available online and ondemand.” Att’y Grievance Comm’n of Md. v. Weinberg, 485 Md. 504, 540 n.22 (2023).9

When a circuit court clerk assigns a document an enhanced security designation in MDEC

that restricts access to judges and court personnel (“Judge/Court Personnel Only”), the

document remains part of the record, but is not visible to counsel as a docket entry, nor is

it included in the Appeal Index.

This aspect of MDEC’s security system poses particular difficulty for appellate

counsel who did not participate in the proceedings below. Although in this case, during

the hearing on Mr. Curry’s motion to dismiss, the motions judge explained that the jury

notes were “locked” in MDEC because they were confidential documents not for public

viewing, the documents in question were restricted to judges and court personnel only. As

a result, counsel for this case could not see that any such documents existed in the record.

Counsel should not assume that the absence of a document from the Appeal Index

means that it was not filed or is not part of the record. Instead, counsel should promptly

notify the appropriate court personnel, often the circuit court clerk, and request access to

the relevant documents. When appropriate, the circuit court may modify the document’s

security designation to the less restrictive “Confidential,” thereby permitting counsel to

review it while continuing to restrict public access.

9

Quoting Maryland Judiciary, About MDEC, available at

https://mdcourts.gov/mdec/about, archived at https://perma.cc/RN8D-EJ5Q).

15

CONCLUSION

The issue of whether the trial judge abused his discretion by communicating with

the jury outside of Mr. Curry’s presence is moot because the remedy for such an error

would be a new trial, and Mr. Curry is already receiving a new trial. The trial judge did

not abuse his discretion by declaring a mistrial because the judge reasonably concluded

that the jury was deadlocked, and thus a mistrial was manifestly necessary. Finally, the

motions judge did not err in denying Mr. Curry’s motion to dismiss for double jeopardy

because the Double Jeopardy Clause is not implicated when declaring a mistrial was

supported by manifest necessity.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

FOR BALTIMORE CITY IS AFFIRMED.

COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLANT.

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