How many iolations of Maryland state laws, proceedures, and coeds does it take to throw a case out?

Answer 1

It depends on the nature and scope of the violation.

There are three types of 'errors' (violations) a court can make -- structural, procedural, and trivial. I'm not sure what terms the Maryland court uses -- but the concepts are the same.

Structural errors -- severe violations -- are so bad they taint the entire trial process. There is no way to recover, so if the appellate court finds even one structural error, the case is thrown out or reversed.

Procedural errors -- moderate violations -- are grounds to reverse or vacate the judgment, and send the case back for a new trial. In other words, they are bad enough that the prior decision cannot stand -- but not bad enough that the courts can't try again to get it right. Usually, one major procedural error or several cumulative minor procedural errors are sufficient to get the case remanded.

Trivial errors -- minor violations -- are ones that wouldn't change the outcome even if they had not occurred. This is sometimes referred to as the "harmless error" standard for appellate review. This doesn't change the outcome, no matter how many individual harmless errors occur -- unless they cumulatively add up to a structural or procedural problem.