Tracy L. Palmer was furious when she learned that a Prince George's County judge had decided to reduce her abuser's prison sentence, but attorneys told her it was too late to do anything about it.
She fought on anyway, arguing that since she did not receive notification of her ex-boyfriend's attempt to reduce his sentence as required by law, she was entitled to a new hearing and the chance to object. The circuit judge agreed, reversed himself and sent the man, Sharden B. Hoile, back to prison.
But the state's highest court decided yesterday that Palmer was too late. The Court of Appeals ruled that while Maryland law may require notification, it doesn't give the victim standing to demand a new hearing if that notice isn't received.
"The victim's rights provisions in Maryland law still lack adult teeth," Court of Appeals Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr., wrote.
Two state senators said yesterday that the court's ruling violated the "spirit" of the law and said they would consider legislation next year that would give victims "a remedy" when they're not notified that a defendant is appealing a conviction or trying to get his or her sentenced reduced.
"It's absurd that a victim has a right to be notified of a hearing and the right to come, but if nobody tells her about it, well, then she never gets to have any input," said Sen. Brian E. Frosh, chairman of the Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee. "There's an old homily that says there's no right without a remedy, but in this case, the court is saying there is in fact a right without a remedy."
After Hoile's sentence was reduced without Palmer's knowledge, her attorney, Russell P. Butler, argued that she deserved the do-over Prince George's County Circuit Judge Thomas P. Smith gave her.
The "ruling is very frustrating," said Butler, executive director of the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center. "The court acknowledged her rights were violated but then found no remedy. It makes victims' rights meaningless unless the General Assembly acts."
Sen. Bobby A. Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat, said legislation is needed to "fix" the "hole" but that the ruling should give prosecutors a "wake-up call."
Palmer said yesterday that Prince George's County state's attorney's office erroneously sent the notices to an address she lived at in 1997, instead of her mother's address, which she had furnished to the court. The Court of Appeals wrote that it was unclear whether the letters were mailed at all.
