Watts v. State

At issue was whether the revised and consolidated assault statute, contained in Md. Code Ann. Crim. Law 3-201(b), contemplates different crimes or whether the acts constitute second degree assault.Petitioner was convicted of two counts of first degree assault. The trial court instructed the jury on two different variations of second degree assault, but the jury was not instructed to reach a unanimous decision about which version occurred. The Court of Special Appeals upheld Petitioner’s convictions. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the assault statute contemplates different modalities of committing the singular crime of second degree assault, as opposed to different crimes. Therefore, Petitioner was not entitled to have the trial judge instruct the jury to unanimously agree to which modality of assault Petitioner had committed. View "Watts v. State" on Justia Law