Smith v. State

On January 18, 2002, Gerald Ballard Smith, appellant, was arrested in Washington County, Maryland and charged with various controlled dangerous substance offenses, including possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Partly as a result of certain negotiations with the State, some of the charges were dropped. On June 18, 2002, appellant was tried on the remaining charges in a court trial. Following the conclusion of all testimony and argument, he was found guilty of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Immediately following the verdict, the parties proceeded to sentencing. Appellant, a subsequent offender, received the mandatory minimum sentence of ten years without the possibility of parole. On July 16, 2002, appellant filed a notice of appeal. On February 26, 2003, we, on our own initiative, granted a writ of certiorari to resolve the following issue: ""1. Was Appellant's waiver of his right to be tried by jury, said right embodied in the Sixth Amendment as well as Article 21 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, proper where the trial judge, prior to Appellant's waiver, unequivocally stated that he would impose a harsher sentence if Appellant were found guilty after a jury trial, as opposed to a court trial.""