Opinion
336-2022
10-27-2022
JEREMY SHANE COCHRAN v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Circuit Court for Harford County Case No. 12-K-12-000458
Nazarian, Ripken, Zarnoch, Robert A. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
OPINION
PER CURIAM.
Following a 2012 jury trial in the Circuit Court for Harford County, Jeremy Shane Cochran, appellant, was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor-continuing course of conduct, sexual abuse of a minor, and conspiracy to commit sexual abuse of a minor. This Court affirmed his convictions on direct appeal. See Cochran v. State, No. 86, Sept. Term 2013 (filed July 2, 2014).
In March 2022, appellant filed a "Petition for Prosecutorial Misconduct for Improper and Prejudicial Statements," wherein he claimed that the prosecutor in his trial had "committed prosecutorial misconduct by [making] improper extrajudicial statements[.]" Specifically, he contended that the prosecutor "present[ed] false testimony to the grand jury" and made numerous improper arguments during closing. The court denied the motion without a hearing.
On appeal, appellant contends that the court erred in denying his motion because "[t]he trial transcripts correctly show[] that [the prosecutor] in [his] jury trial resorted to name calling during her closing and rebuttal arguments by calling [him] a rapist, a child molester, [and] a child abuser multiple times." However, these claims are barred by the law of the case doctrine as they were either raised or could have been raised in appellant's direct appeal. Holloway v. State, 232 Md.App. 272, 282 (2017) (noting that the law of the case doctrine bars re-litigation not only of claims that were decided in prior appeals, but also any claims "that could have been raised and decided"). Consequently, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR HARFORD COUNTY AFFIRMED. COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLANT.
This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104