Nightingale v. State

ADKINS, Judge.

The question put to us in these cases is whether separate convictions and sentences for both child abuse and second, third, or fourth degree sexual offense [are] improper where the State relies on and proves the sexual offense to sustain the child abuse conviction?

The Court of Special Appeals answered this question in the negative. Although we cannot determine with precision whether the convictions of child abuse were sustained by the sexual offense convictions, that might have been the case. Faced with this sort of ambiguity, we shall reverse the Court of Special Appeals.

We…