State Ex Rel. Sonner v. Shearin

We shall here hold that a trial judge (Shearin, J.) imposed an improper condition on an otherwise legal sentence when he suspended a portion of a five-year prison sentence for the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. This suspension rendered the sentence illegal, since Maryland Code (1957, 1971 Repl. Vol., 1973 Cum. Supp.) Art. 27, § 36B (d) makes mandatory in such case the imposition of “no less than the minimum sentence of five years.” Subsection (e) provides that “[n]otwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, including the provisions of § 643 of [Art. 27,…