Thomas v. State

CATHELL, Judge.

Charles Leon Thomas, appellant, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County of first degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to life with all but 30 years suspended. Appellant presents a number of issues on appeal. We address only the issue of whether the trial court judge failed to afford the appellant an adequate opportunity to elect between a jury trial and a bench trial. We hold that the trial court did not afford appellant an opportunity to waive his right to a jury trial and thus to assert his right to a court trial. This failure deprived…