Ch. 726

LAWS OF MARYLAND

to any decision upon the merits thereof or subsequent to any
proceeding in which said allegation otherwise may have been
waived, any court whose decisions are binding upon the lower
courts of this State holds that the Constitution of the United
States or of Maryland imposes upon State criminal proceedings a
procedural or substantive standard not theretofore recognized,
which such standard is intended to be applied retrospectively and
would thereby affect the validity of the petitioner's conviction
or sentence.

(e)  The remedy herein provided is not a substitute for, nor
does it affect any remedies which are incident to the proceedings
in the trial court or any remedy of direct review of the sentence
or conviction. A petition for relief under this subtitle may be
filed at any time, except that where an appeal has been taken
from the judgment of conviction to the Court of Special Appeals,
it shall not be necessary to appoint counsel or conduct a hearing
or take any action whatsoever on the petition, until the judgment
of conviction becomes final in the Court of Special Appeals. No
appeals to the Court of Appeals or the Court of Special Appeals
in habeas corpus or coram nobis cases, or from other common-law
or statutory remedies which have heretofore been available for
challenging the validity of incarceration under sentence of death
or imprisonment shall be permitted or entertained, except appeals
in such cases pending in the Court of Appeals on June 1, 1958,
shall be processed in due course. Provided, however, that nothing
in this subtitle shall operate to bar an appeal to the Court of
Special Appeals (1) in a habeas corpus proceeding instituted
under § 2-210 of Article 41 of this Code or (2) in any other
proceeding in which a writ of habeas corpus is sought for any
purpose other than to challenge the legality of a conviction of a
crime or sentence of death or imprisonment therefor, including
confinement as a result of a proceeding under Article 31B of this
Code.

(f)  A petitioner is entitled to the assistance of counsel
and a hearing on the first petition filed by the petitioner under
this section. The court shall determine if assistance of counsel
or a hearing should be granted on a subsequent petition filed by
a petitioner.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall
take effect July 1, 1988.

Approved May 27, 1988.

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