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No. 71, September Term, 1997 Wesley A. Bryan et al. v. State Roads Commission of the State Highway Administration

[Whether Landowners Are Constitutionally Entitled To Twelve Person Juries In Maryland Condemnation Proceedings]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 71 September Term, 1997 ___________________________________________

WESLEY A. BRYAN et al. v. STATE ROADS COMMISSION OF THE STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION __________________________________________ Eldridge Rodowsky *Chasanow Raker Wilner Smith, Marvin H. (Retired, specially assigned) Cathell, Dale R. (Specially assigned), JJ. ___________________________________________ Opinion by Eldridge, J. __________________________________________ Filed: September 10, 1999 * Chasanow, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of this Court but did not participate in the decision and adoption of this opinion.

We granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in this case to decide whether landowners are constitutionally entitled to twelve person juries in Maryland condemnation proceedings. We shall hold that a landowner is entitled to a six person jury and not a twelve person jury in a condemnation proceeding, based on the 1992 amendment to Article 5 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, which entitles a party in a civil proceeding to a jury of at least six persons, and based on the statutory provision implementing the 1992 constitutional amendment, Ch. 85 of the Acts of 1992, codified as Maryland Code (1974, 1998 Repl. Vol.),

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