Our Successful Appeals
People who have suffered injustice in our criminal justice system need the help of attorneys who are capable of making things right. At RaquinMercer LLC, we are proud of the success we have been able to achieve for our clients in appellate courts in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Read more about some of our recent appellate successes:
- Case 1: The State charged our client with sex abuse of a minor, and sex offense in the third degree for the same victim. The jury returned verdicts of guilty. The court imposed a 20-year executed sentence. On appeal, attorneys Isabelle Raquin and Steve Mercer raised the question whether the trial court erroneously permitted the State to introduce a transcript of the client’s video recorded interview with the police, where the transcript could have misled the jury about the meaning of the client’s statement to police, and where the court precluded the client from explaining to the jury what he meant and did not allow the video to be played except by the jury during deliberations. The appellate court reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded for a new trial.
- Case 2: In this appellate case, attorneys Isabelle Raquin and Steve Mercer won relief for two drug court clients who were found in violation of Drug Court rules. Isabelle argued the case before the Court of Special Appeals and the Court of Appeals, winning at both levels of appeal for each client. The case established that due process requirements of notice and an opportunity to be heard must be construed to provide a Drug Court participant with a fair chance to challenge the allegation of a rule violation that could result in their imprisonment.
- Case 3: In this appellate case, attorneys Isabelle Raquin and Steve Mercer won the reversal of a termination of parental rights judgment.
- Case 4: In this appellate case, attorneys Isabelle Raquin and Steve Mercer won the reversal of a child custody order that reduced a father’s visitation without the benefit of an evidentiary hearing.
