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MCDAA Announces FY2026 Executive Committee and New Board Members

Baltimore, MD — The Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys' Association (MCDAA) is pleased to announce the Executive Committee and new members of the Board of Directors for Fiscal Year 2026, effective July 1, 2025. These appointments were approved by membership through an online vote held earlier this month and confirmed at the Annual Meeting on June 24^th.

Brian Shefferman will serve as President, with Andrew Alperstein as President-Elect. Dave Harbin has been named First Vice President, and Isabelle Raquin will serve as Second Vice President. New to the Executive Committee this year are John Phoebus, who will serve as Treasurer, and Matthew Connell, who will serve as Secretary. Outgoing President Christine DuFour will continue to serve in an advisory role on the Executive Committee as Immediate Past President.

In addition to these leadership changes, MCDAA welcomes three new board members: Kevin Collins, Elizabeth Long and Jeremy Widder.

MCDAA also extends its deepest appreciation to the outgoing board members for their dedicated service and leadership: Ron Earnest, Paul Mack, Brandon Mead, Mike Rothman, Ramon Rozas III, Raphael Santini, William Simmons and Mike Taylor.

For a complete list of the MCDAA Board of Directors, please visit www.mcdaa.org.

“I look forward to leading MCDAA over the next year and working closely with the Executive Committee, Board members, and individual members,” Shefferman said. “I think most people join MCDAA to become a better criminal defense lawyer. The collective knowledge of our members is on full display on our listserv. Take advantage of it. No matter how many years (or days) you have been practicing, we can all learn from each other. We also learn a lot from MCDAA’s continuing education programs at our dinner meetings and webinars.”

“Over the past few years we have stepped up our lobbying efforts in Annapolis and we will continue to do so in the 2026 session,” Shefferman added.

What topics do you want MCDAA to address in upcoming CLE programs? All ideas are welcome. You can post ideas on the listserv, send them directly any board member.

MCDAA Legislative Wrap Up - 2025

Legislators address bills on assault, false statements, sentence reduction and more in 2025 General Assembly Session

During the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session, representatives of Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ Association (MCDAA) reviewed 2,600 bills in 90 days, and actively tracked and worked on more than 240 pieces of legislation.

“The pace was fast and furious,” said Jason Weintraub, a Government Relations Practice attorney at Gordon Feinblatt and a lobbyist for MCDAA.

Yet volunteers and lobbyists for MCDAA helped refine multiple bills that will impact the work of defense attorneys. 

Early and swift work also enabled MCDAA to make progress on two priority bills, even though they did not pass during the session.

Working with the office of the Speaker of the House of Delegates, MCDAA drafted legislation [SB 873] that would create the offense of third-degree assault and secured bill sponsors.

“We were able to get the House Majority Leader David Moon to be the House sponsor…and Judiciary Proceedings Committee Chairman Will Smith to take up the bill in the Senate,” Weintraub said.

Third-degree assault legislation had not been introduced in the General Assembly since 2018, so MCDAA and the bill sponsors had to conduct significant education among legislators.

“We didn’t expect to pass that bill in the first year. It often takes two to five years to get a good piece of legislation passed. But we made significant progress on this bill,” said Christine DuFour, MCDAA President.

Legislators formed a working group to study the issue further and refine the legislation before the 2026 session.

MCDAA also worked to pass [HB 21] – legislation that would make it an offense to make false statements to district court commissioners. In the past, false complaints have convinced commissioners to issue arrest warrants on charges that were later dropped when police and prosecutors investigated them.

Progress on that bill, however, stalled in the House Judiciary Committee, largely over questions about the appropriate penalty for false statements versus the current penalty for perjury.

During the session, the General Assembly passed multiple other bills impacting the work of defense attorneys. They include the following.

The Second Look Act [HB 853] – provides sentence-reduction hearings to inmates who were 18 to 24 years old at the time of their offence and who have served at least 20 years in prison, day for day. The provision does not apply to three categories of inmates: sex offenders, individuals sentenced to life without parole, and individuals convicted of homicide involving first responders. Inmates can apply for up to three hearings, separated by three years each.

MCDAA estimates that more than 500 current inmates at Maryland prisons will qualify for sentence-reduction hearings under this bill.

U Visa Nonimmigrant Status Petitions [SB 608] broadens pathways to obtaining U Visas for non-citizens who are victims of or witnesses to crime, and are helpful in prosecuting that crime. It expands the list of organizations who can offer a ‘certification of helpfulness’ beyond police and prosecutors to include other government agencies. It widens the definition of helpfulness to essentially cover anyone who does not impede the investigation. It also speeds the visa application process. Authorities must evaluate ‘certification of helpfulness’ requests within 45 days (compared to the previous 90-day timeline). Requests involving individuals who are in the midst of removal proceedings, must be adjudicated within 14 days.

Expungement [SB 432] – addresses the issue of “satisfactory completion” of a sentence under the Abhishek I case from 2022. Previously, a finding of unsatisfactory completion of parole could block a request for expungement. The new law defines “completion” of sentence as the end of supervision/jail sentence and directs courts to consider a person’s success on probation or parole and their payment of any restitution.

Paraphernalia [HB 260] – alters the penalty for possession of drug paraphernalia to a $500 fine for first offence and one year of imprisonment for a subsequent offense. Previous sentences ranged from two to four years, depending on the type of paraphernalia.

Reckless Driving/High Speed [SB 590] – modifies Maryland’s traffic laws on reckless, negligent and aggressive driving/speeding. The bill expands the definition of reckless driving to include driving at least 30 miles per hour over the posted speed limit while also considering the current definition for driving with wanton disregard for safety. Under the new law, punishment for reckless driving includes up to 60 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both. Negligent driving is punishable by a fine of up to $750.

A full list of bills passed by the 2025 General Assembly can be found on the Maryland Department of Legislative Services website. Most bills relevant to defense attorneys can be found in Section E.