Barkley v. State

CHARLES E. MOYLAN, JR., J.

(Retired, Specially Assigned).

Unlawfully to possess heroin is a misdemeanor subjecting the possessor to the risk of imprisonment for four years plus a fine of $25,000. Criminal Law Article, § 5-601. To possess that heroin with the intent to distribute it, however, escalates the crime into a felony with a maximum sentence of twenty years imprisonment. §§ 5-602, 5-608. How then does the State go about proving that specific intent to distribute which is the escalating trigger? The defendant, of course, could tell us, but defendants are seldom so forthright. As an…