State v. Frazier

State of Maryland v. Kaleem Michael Frazier, No. 45, September Term, 2019. Opinion by Hotten, J. CRIMINAL LAW—MERGER—FOURTH DEGREE SEXUAL OFFENSE— SECOND DEGREE ASSAULT The Court of Appeals held that, under the merger rule articulated in State v. Lancaster, 332 Md. 385,

631 A.2d 453

(1993), offenses and their sentences merge for purposes of sentencing. The Court declined to overturn Lancaster, citing principles of stare decisis. Departure from stare decisis should occur sparingly and is only warranted when precedent is “clearly wrong” or when it is plainly obvious that adherence to the decision…