Grimes, Denise J. v. Laplanche

Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County
Case No. C-02-FM-15-000859
*This is a per curiam opinion. Under Rule 1-104, the opinion is not precedent within the
rule of stare decisis nor may it be cited as persuasive authority.
UNREPORTED
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF MARYLAND
No. 2699
September Term, 2025
______________________________________
DENISE J. GRIMES
v.
JAMES ALAIN LAPLANCHE
______________________________________
Graeff,
Ripken,
Eyler, Deborah S.
(Senior Judge, Specially Assigned),
JJ.
______________________________________
PER CURIAM
______________________________________
Filed: October 16, 2026

‒Unreported Opinion‒
On January 21, 2026, Denise J. Grimes, appellant, filed a notice of appeal from two
orders issued by the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County: (1) an October 3, 2025, order
which awarded James Alain Laplanche, appellee, $4,068.75 in attorney’s fees and (2) a
January 9, 2026, order which denied her petition for contempt against appellee for allegedly
failing to pay child support. 1 Appellant raises five issues on appeal with respect to those
orders. Appellee contends, however, that the appeal should be dismissed because appellant
did not timely appeal from the October 3, 2025, judgment, and the January 9, 2026,
judgment is not appealable. For the reasons that follow, we shall dismiss the appeal.
Maryland Rule 8-202(a) provides that a party must file his or her notice of appeal
“within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order from which the appeal is taken.”
Although not jurisdictional, this requirement is a “binding rule on appellants” unless
“waiver or forfeiture applies to a belated challenge to an untimely appeal.” 	Rosales v.
State, 463 Md. 552, 568 (2019). 	Here, the circuit court’s order awarding appellee
attorney’s fees was entered on the docket on October 3, 2025. Appellant then filed a timely
motion to alter or amend the judgment, which was denied on October 30, 2025. Therefore,
she had thirty days from that date to file her notice of appeal. However, appellant did not
file her notice of appeal until January 21, 2026. 	Moreover, appellee has not waived or
forfeited his challenge to the timeliness of appellant’s appeal because Md. Rule 8-603(c)
provides that a motion to dismiss pursuant to Md. Rule 8-602(b) “may be included in the
1 That order also overruled her exceptions to the magistrate’s report, which had
recommended that her petition for contempt be denied.

‒Unreported Opinion‒
2
appellee’s brief.” 	Thus, appellant’s notice of appeal was not timely as to the court’s
October 3 order.
Finally, appellant’s notice of appeal was timely as to the court’s January 9, 2026,
order. But appeals of denials of contempt - unlike appeals from grants of contempt - are
not appealable judgments. 	Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art. § 12-304; Pack Shack, Inc. v. Howard
Cnty., 371 Md. 243, 254 (2002) (holding that CJP § 12-304 does not allow a right to an
appeal by “a party who unsuccessfully seeks to have another party held in contempt”
(quotation marks and citation omitted)). And because appellee was not held in contempt,
appellant cannot appeal the court’s denial of her petition for contempt, or its decision to
overrule her exceptions to the magistrate’s recommendations. 	Consequently, we lack
jurisdiction to review the court’s January 9, 2026, order.
Because appellant has not filed a timely notice of appeal from an appealable
judgment, none of the issues she raises on appeal are properly before us. 	We shall,
therefore, dismiss the appeal.
APPEAL DISMISSED. COSTS TO BE
PAID BY APPELLANT.