State v. Magwood

At common law, jurors were "prisoners of the court ... kept together without meat, drink, fire or candle till they [were] agreed.” 1 Fortunately for those chosen citizens, modern jury service is less onerous — how much so being the issue in this criminal cause. At the instance of the State, we here review the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals in Magwood v. State, 46 Md. App. 668, 420 A.2d 1253 (1980), reversing the jury conviction of respondent Aaron Magwood for distribution of cocaine. In essence, the intermediate appellate court ruled that, absent an emergency or a personal waiver by…