BARRINGTON DEAN WATTS v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Appeals of Maryland, Greene, Feb. 20, 2018,
Assault – A jury does not need to agree about the mode of assault that was committed as long as they all agree that the defendant committed the crime of assault.

Facts:
On November 9, 2014, Watts entered the apartment of Lavasha Harding, pointed a gun at one of the occupants of the apartment, Andre French, and demanded money. An altercation transpired, during which Watts fired three shots. One bullet struck a different occupant, Antonio Woods. After a brief struggle, one of the men involved gained possession of the gun and then detained Watts until the police arrived shortly thereafter.
At trial, Watts was charged with two counts of 1st-degree assault among other crimes.
The jury was instructed about the different ways that an assault could be committed (battery, attempted battery, placing the victim in apprehension of battery), but they were not asked to explain or vote regarding which form of assault they thought had occurred.
Watts objected, arguing that the jury should not be able to convict him of assault unless they all agreed which form of assault he had committed.
Watts was convicted and appealed, arguing that his assault conviction was improper.

Held: The Court of Appeals held that “when a defendant is charged with assault, a jury need not agree unanimously as to the means of the violation. So long as the jury unanimously agrees that the defendant has committed a modality of assault, the jury need not agree as to how the assault was committed.”

Assault – Maryland’s assault statute defines “assault” as including “assault, battery, and assault and battery, which retain their judicially determined meanings.”

Assault – The statutory crime of assault was intended to include the definition of “assault” as Maryland courts defined it up to that point and to continue changing as Maryland courts changed the definition in the future

Assault – Maryland courts have explained that there are four different ways to commit the crime of assault:
1. A consummated battery (unwanted, intentional touching)
2. An attempted battery
3. Placing a victim in reasonable apprehension of an imminent battery
4. Criminally negligent battery (injury that results from a gross departure from what a reasonable person would have done)

Assault – Second-Degree Assault is a single crime that can be committed in different ways.

First-Degree Assault – First-degree assault is any assault where either:
– the defendant used a firearm to commit assault
– OR the defendant intended to cause serious physical injury