Middleton v. State
| Decision Date | 28 February 1990 |
| Citation | 569 A.2d 1276,318 Md. 749 |
| Parties | Vincent MIDDLETON v. STATE of Maryland. 97 Sept. Term 1988 |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
George E. Burns, Jr., Asst. Public Defender (Alan H. Murrell, Public Defender, both on brief), Baltimore, for petitioner.
Richard B. Rosenblatt, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., both on brief), Baltimore, for respondent.
Argued Before ELDRIDGE, COLE, RODOWSKY, McAULIFFE, ADKINS and BLACKWELL, * JJ., and CHARLES E. ORTH, Jr., Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland (retired), Specially Assigned.
In this criminal case, a jury found the defendant guilty both of first degree rape and of the concededly lesser included offense of second degree rape. Prior to imposing sentence, the trial judge vacated the guilty verdict on the count charging first degree rape. The trial judge then sentenced the defendant to fifteen years imprisonment for second degree rape. Thereafter, while the case was pending on appeal, the trial judge reconsidered his order vacating the guilty verdict for first degree rape, reinstated the guilty verdict on the first degree charge, and imposed a fifteen year sentence for first degree rape. The issue before this Court concerns the propriety of the trial judge's subsequent reinstatement of the first degree rape guilty verdict and imposition of sentence on that charge under the particular circumstances of this case.
A seventeen-year-old female, after meeting the defendant Vincent C. Middleton outside a bar, voluntarily accompanied Middleton to his apartment. She claimed that after she refused Middleton's request to engage in sexual activity, he displayed a handgun, showed her that one bullet was in its chamber, brandished the handgun in her face, pulled back the trigger, and told her that he would use it if she did not submit. Thereupon she submitted to vaginal intercourse. She also alleged that Middleton attempted to have anal intercourse with her but desisted when she complained of pain. Middleton admitted that the two engaged in sexual intercourse in his apartment on that occasion but claimed that it was consensual. He denied using threats or displaying a handgun.
After the incident, Middleton and the female went together by car to a residence in Washington, D.C., where she exited the car. The residence belonged to her boyfriend. At the boyfriend's suggestion, she called the police, who arrested Middleton later that day. A search conducted by the police failed to recover any handgun from Middleton's apartment.
The Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Middleton on eight counts:
Count 1--First degree rape;
Count 2--Second degree rape;
Count 3--Use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence;
Count 4--First degree sexual offense;
Count 5--Second degree sexual offense;
Count 6--Attempted first degree sexual offense;
Count 7--Attempted second degree sexual offense;
Count 8--Battery.
Middleton was tried by a jury in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County. The State nol prossed count 8 before the jury was sworn. After a three day trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts on counts 1, 2, 6 and 7, but found Middleton not guilty on counts 3, 4 and 5.
Middleton filed a timely motion for a new trial based on, inter alia, an inconsistency between the guilty verdict for first degree rape and the not guilty verdict for use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence. 1 Later, Middleton made a second motion to strike the guilty verdict for first degree rape, based on the same inconsistency. Thus, while Middleton had two motions pending before the trial judge, both motions were grounded, at least partially, on an inconsistency between two verdicts.
At the hearing on his motions, Middleton asserted that the only evidence presented to the jury that could raise the alleged rape from second degree to first degree was his use of a handgun. The proof of the use of a handgun was based entirely on the prosecutrix's testimony. The not guilty verdict on the handgun charge, according to Middleton, indicated that the jury simply did not believe the allegations that a handgun was used.
The State, in opposing Middleton's motions, emphasized that under Maryland law, inconsistent verdicts by a jury are normally tolerated. See, e.g., Wright v. State, 307 Md. 552, 576, 515 A.2d 1157 (1986); Shell v. State, 307 Md. 46, 53-55, 512 A.2d 358 (1986); Mack v. State, 300 Md. 583, 593-594, 479 A.2d 1344 (1984); Ford v. State, 274 Md. 546, 337 A.2d 81 (1975). See also Ferrell v. State, 318 Md. 235, 248, 567 A.2d 937, 944 (1990). The State also argued that the verdicts were not inconsistent. According to the State, the jury might have been reluctant to find beyond a reasonable doubt that a real handgun, capable of firing a bullet, was used, especially since no gun had been recovered. The jury might have been willing, however, to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Middleton used an object which gave his victim a reasonable apprehension of imminent death or serious bodily harm.
After these arguments, the following exchange took place:
Thereafter a dispute arose concerning the effect of what the trial judge had done. Middleton asserted that the court's action amounted to an acquittal on the first degree rape charge. The court, however, took the position that it had merely vacated the guilty verdict for first degree rape because of inconsistency, had awarded a new trial as to that count, but had rejected the other grounds for Middleton's new trial motion. 2
Next, the trial court sentenced Middleton to fifteen years imprisonment on the second degree rape conviction. With regard to the attempted first degree sexual offense conviction, the court imposed a sentence of fifteen years, with ten suspended and five to run consecutive to the sentence for second degree rape. Both sentences were to commence retroactively on the date of Middleton's incarceration. When counsel for Middleton asked the court whether "the remaining counts merge," the court responded that "the remaining counts would merge for the purposes of sentencing." 3
"Usually, a criminal case is complete and disposed of when sentence has been pronounced." Langworthy v. State, 284 Md. 588, 596, 399 A.2d 578, 583 (1979). This case, however, took another unusual turn. Five days later the State filed a motion for reconsideration, asking the trial court to reinstate the original guilty verdict for first degree rape. The State did not, however, ask the court to reconsider or modify its judgment imposing a sentence for second degree rape. Thus, it appears that the State wanted to preserve the 15-year sentence for second degree rape while it pursued a new sentence for first degree rape, based on the same incident.
While the State's motion for reconsideration was pending, Middleton filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Special Appeals from the judgments sentencing him for second degree rape and attempted first degree sexual offense. Those judgments were eventually affirmed by the Court of Special Appeals in an unreported opinion, and this Court denied Middleton's petition for a writ of certiorari, Middleton v. State, 313 Md. 8, 542 A.2d 845 (1988). 4
After the notice of appeal was filed, the circuit court held a hearing on the State's motion for reconsideration. The State argued that the court had granted a new trial on the count charging first degree rape because of an erroneous understanding of the law concerning inconsistent jury verdicts. The State requested that the circuit court reinstate the original guilty verdict. Middleton insisted that the court had vacated the guilty verdict, that its action amounted to an acquittal, and that there could be no further proceedings on the first degree rape charge. Middleton also argued that, because he had noted an appeal, the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the motion for reconsideration.
The circuit court granted the State's motion for reconsideration and reinstated the guilty verdict on the count charging first degree rape. The court ordered that a new sentencing date be set as to that count. On the day of sentencing, Middleton filed a motion to dismiss the first degree rape charge. The circuit court denied that motion and sentenced Middleton to fifteen years imprisonment for first degree rape, the sentence to run concurrently with the previously imposed sentence for second degree rape.
Middleton took an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals from the judgment sentencing him for first degree rape, arguing that double jeopardy principles prohibited the reinstatement of the guilty verdict and the sentence for that offense. The Court of Special Appeals, by a divided court, affirmed. Middleton v. State, 76 Md.App. 402, 545 A.2d 103 (1988).
Middleton filed a petition for writ of certiorari, raising the question of whether the trial court's actions violated the prohibition against double jeopardy. We granted this petition and ordered that the parties also address the issue of whether the circuit court should have decided the State's motion for reconsideration after Middleton had filed his first order of appeal. Our disposition of the double jeopardy issue will make it unnecessary to consider the second question.
Middleton was entitled not to be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense, under both the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth...
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