Cases | Wildermuth v. State, 530 A.2d 275 (Md. 1987) | 2018
Two defendants were each convicted of and sentenced for, among other things, child abuse. In both trials, the victim was allowed to testify from outside the courtroom via closed-circuit television. Both defendants appealed this procedure, arguing that it violated their constitutional right to confrontation. The court stated that the degree of confrontation allowed by section 9-102 satisfies constitutional requirements if the trial court finds that testimony by the child victim in the courtroom will result in the child suffering such serious emotional distress that the child cannot reasonably communicate as a condition precedent to application of the statute. The court held that in defendant Wildermuth’s case, the evidence was not strong enough. Defendant McKoy had not preserved such an argument for review. Wildermuth’s judgment was reversed and the case was remanded for further proceedings; McKoy’s judgment was affirmed.