Hall v. State

No proposition is more bedrock than that a crime consists of an actus reus and a mens rea and that the two must coexist. Where there is no coincidence in time between the guilty act and the guilty mind, there is, by definition, no crime. Conversely and just as inexorably, where there is such temporal unity, there is crime. The overlooking of this fundamental converse has led many defendants to an overly broad reading of Crossland v. State, 252 Md. 70, 249 A. 2d 153.

The appellant, Larry Gale Hall, now joins that legion. His peers in Cecil County convicted him of 1) roguery and vagabondage, 2)…