SNOW HILL, Md. - A Worcester County Circuit Court Judge has dismissed the charges against Tyler Mailloux in the death of Gavin Knupp while underscoring the prosecution’s option to refile in District Court.
Mailloux, 23, faced 17 criminal traffic charges in Knupp’s death on July 11, 2022 near Ocean Pines. The Circuit Court Judge sided with the defense’s argument that Mailloux had been denied the right to make the case for either a judge or jury trial when prosecutors filed in Circuit Court.
The Office of the State's Attorney for Worcester County officially filed an appeal Friday afternoon. If the appeal fails, prosecutors say they will refile in District Court.
Mailloux’s attorney had filed a motion for a change of venue on June 16th. The motions hearing took place in Snow Hill this morning where a decision on a change of venue was expected.
On Friday morning, shortly after 8:45 a.m., Tyler Mailloux walked into the Worcester County Court House. Three hours later, he walked out with those charges dismissed, for now.
Mailloux's lawyer, George Psoras, began his arguments at 9:45 a.m. on the dot with a motion to dismiss the charges against Mailloux, or have them moved to the district court where the ruling would be made by a judge.
Psoras' argued that, although four charges are felonies, the most serious of the 17 that could carry up to a 30 year sentence, the case belongs in the district court, Maryland's lowest court level.
Out of the 17 charges Mailloux is facing, 13 are misdemeanors. Eight of them carry a maximum sentence of 12 years and eight months, the other five are payable citations.
All the charges are related to Mailloux's alleged failure to stop at the scene or report it later. At 10:10 a.m., Assistant State's Attorney Pamela Correa rebutted. She said this case met certain exceptions that would allow it to be tried in circuit court with a jury present. One of which is that all 17 charges add up to a sentence that exceeds three years.
After a 10 minute recess around 11:30 a.m., court started back up. At which point Judge Brett W. Wilson granted the defenses motion to dismiss.
Mary Karich with the State's Attorney Office told WBOC the prosecuting attorneys are reviewing this matter and have filed an appeal. The outcome of that appeal will shed light on what is next for this case.
