Background
James W. pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree assault under Maryland law. The case was designated domestically related. The Circuit Court for Baltimore County sentenced him to ten years’ incarceration, suspended all but time served, followed by two years of supervised probation. It also imposed community service, an abuser-intervention program, and a restriction against unlawful contact with the victim.
James W. completed probation in April 2018 and petitioned for expungement in May 2025. The State objected that a domestically related crime carries a 15-year waiting period. The circuit court nevertheless granted expungement, reasoning that the provision governing contested petitions expressly referenced statutory subsections addressing qualifying convictions and petitioner eligibility but not the subsection establishing waiting periods.
The Court’s Holding
The Appellate Court of Maryland held that Md. Code, Criminal Procedure § 10-110(f)(2) does not permit a court to grant a contested expungement petition filed before the applicable waiting period in § 10-110(c) has expired. Although § 10-110(f)(2) is ambiguous because it does not expressly reference subsection (c), the statute as a whole treats the waiting period as a threshold filing requirement. Reading subsection (f)(2) to override that requirement would effectively deprive the waiting periods of force whenever the State or a victim objected.
The court also held that the 15-year waiting period for domestically related crimes applies when the conviction is for second-degree assault. The seven-year provision for second-degree assault sets a minimum period but does not create an exception to the 15-year rule for an assault classified as domestically related. Because James W. filed approximately seven years after completing probation, his petition was premature. The court reversed and remanded with instructions to vacate the expungement order.
Key Takeaways
- The statutory waiting periods in § 10-110(c) remain mandatory even though the provision governing contested expungement petitions does not expressly cross-reference them.
- A second-degree assault conviction classified as domestically related is subject to the 15-year waiting period, not merely the seven-year period generally applicable to second-degree assault.
- Maryland courts may not create an implied exception to § 10-110’s waiting periods where the General Assembly provided no comparable good-cause exception.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that eligibility based on the type of conviction is distinct from eligibility to file at a particular time. Petitioners must satisfy every applicable waiting period before seeking expungement, including any longer period arising from a domestically related classification.
For counsel evaluating second-degree assault convictions, the domestic classification is therefore critical: it extends the earliest permissible filing date from seven years to 15 years after completion of the sentence.