State v. Stewart
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The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals reversing Defendant's conviction for robbery on the ground that the guilty verdict on the robbery charge was legally inconsistent with Defendant's acquittal on a second-degree assault charge, holding that the guilty verdict on the robbery count should be affirmed.
A jury found Defendant guilty of robbery and theft but acquitted him of second-degree assault. The Court of Special Appeals reversed the conviction on the robbery count, concluding that the trial court erred in accepting inconsistent verdicts because the second-degree assault charge of which Defendant was acquitted was a lesser-included offense of the robbery. A majority of the Court of Appeals reversed, but the members who agreed with this disposition did so for different reasons. Two judges would apply a two-step analysis to hold that that the verdicts were not legally inconsistent and that the evidence satisfied the elements of robbery. Two other judges would analyze whether the verdict demonstrated that the jury disregarded the trial court's instructions on the law to conclude that the guilty verdict on the robbery count should not be reversed on the ground of inconsistency.
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