Thompson v. State

The case sub jtidice presents us with the issue of whether a jury instruction on flight should ever be given in a criminal case. Although we determine that flight instructions are not per se improper, we conclude, nevertheless, that the trial judge abused his discretion in the case at bar in providing a flight instruction to the jury.

Facts

On July 17, 2002, Noah Gottesman, William Beaver, and Bradley Kelly were walking back to their hotel near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore City after dinner. On the 1300 block of East Pratt Street, two men on bicycles approached the trio. One of the men said,…