DARRELL BELLARD v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Appeals, Watts, March 31, 2017,
Sentencing- CR 2-304(a) – Following conviction for 1st-degree murder, the judge (not the jury) determines whether to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole

Affirming CoSA

It turns out the legislature’s nuanced attempt to end the death penalty by deleting all mention of it left some loose ends…
There’s some legislative interpretation stuff in here, but since that’s the modern equivalent of reading entrails (they’re going to see what they want to see) I’m not really digging deep into this 51-page opinion.

Defendant claimed that life without parole is the “equivalent to the death penalty.”
The Court disagreed.

1st-degree murder- Sentence- The sentence for 1st-degree murder is either: imprisonment for life or imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole