Terry Hugh Thompson v. State of Maryland, 371 Md. 473

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that a trial court erred by giving a modified jury-deliberation instruction that substantially deviated from approved Maryland and American Bar Association standards and was prejudicial. The court also held that amending the statutory citation in the indictment from Article 27, § 287A to Article 27, § 287(d)(2) did not change the character of the offense because the indictment's factual allegations provided notice of the charged conduct. The judgment was reversed and the case remanded for a new trial.

Holdings

1. The trial court's instruction was erroneous and prejudicial because its "final test" language substantially deviated from the ABA Standards and Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction 2:01 by suggesting that jurors should prioritize reaching a verdict over retaining their honest individual convictions.
2. The amendment from Article 27, § 287A to § 287(d)(2) did not change the character of the offense charged and was permissible without Thompson's consent because the body of the indictment sufficiently charged possession of controlled paraphernalia with intent to distribute under § 287(d)(2).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by giving its own modified duty-to-deliberate instruction instead of Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction 2:01.
2. Whether a mid-trial amendment changing the statutory reference in the controlled-paraphernalia count from Maryland Code Article 27, § 287A to § 287(d)(2), thereby increasing the potential penalty, changed the character of the offense charged under Maryland Rule 4-204.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded