Maryland Makes New Evidence Postconviction Review Provisions Available to Defendants with Plea Deals

Felicia Langel

A guilty plea is not a confession, and defendants who accept plea deals are often wrongfully convicted. For many years, Maryland permitted inmates who made plea deals to use newly discovered evidence, such as DNA, to argue that they were entitled to postconviction relief because they were innocent. When the Maryland Court of Appeals suddenly permitted only defendants convicted at trial to access the new evidence postconviction provisions, the Maryland legislature promptly acted to restore this access to defendants with plea deals. The first attempt by the General Assembly to reinstate new evidence postconviction review for defendants with plea deals ran into resistance from key Maryland stakeholders, but the General Assembly satisfied their concerns and amended the law during the next legislative session.