Hamrick v. State

Ancil Tony Hamrick v. State of Maryland No. 1780, Sept. Term, 2022 Opinion by Leahy, J. Criminal Law > Nature and Elements of Crime > Redundant convictions and sentences A theory of felony murder is superfluous when a jury also finds that a defendant committed the same murder with premeditation because, in a murder trial, the “units of prosecution are dead bodies, not theories of aggravation.” Burroughs v. State,

88 Md. App. 229, 247

(1991). It is therefore “redundant” to sentence a defendant twice for the same killing—no merger of offenses or penalties is required. See

id.

By contrast, as…