Greene v. State, 186 A.3d 207

Background

Anthony Greene was arrested July 14, 2015 for alleged drug offenses; police seized cocaine, hydrocodone, a scale, and phones. Multiple indictments and two nolle prosequi events followed before a March 17, 2016 indictment. Greene was later tried in two separate trials and convicted of possession-related offenses.
Greene moved to dismiss the counts tied to July 2015 conduct, arguing violations of his Sixth Amendment speedy-trial and Fourteenth Amendment due-process rights based on pre-indictment and pre-trial delay and the State’s two nol prossequi actions.
The circuit court denied the motion, finding the State acted in good faith when it nol prossed and re-filed charges, and that Greene did not demonstrate actual prejudice or that the State acted to gain a tactical advantage.
On separate appeal Greene argued the court lacked jurisdiction to convict him of simple possession of certain prescription drugs because the indictments charged possession with intent to distribute, and he contended the absence of a valid prescription is an element of simple possession rather than an affirmative defense.
The court held the statutory “unless obtained…by prescription” language is an exception/affirmative defense under Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law §5-807, so simple possession of a prescription drug is a lesser-included offense of possession with intent to distribute.

Issues

Issue	Greene's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether Greene’s Sixth Amendment speedy-trial right was violated by the delay surrounding two nol pros and re-indictments	Delay from arrest (July 2015) to trial (~14 months) was presumptively prejudicial; Barker factors require dismissal	Nol pros done in good faith; under MacDonald the speedy-trial clock restarts at the last indictment (March 17, 2016), remaining delay not of constitutional dimension	Court held State acted in good faith; relevant delay measured from March 17, 2016 and was not of constitutional dimension; no Sixth Amendment violation
Whether the pre-indictment/pre-trial delay violated Fourteenth Amendment due process	Delay impaired ability to defend and was calculated to secure tactical advantage	Greene failed to show actual, substantial prejudice or deliberate government intent to gain tactical advantage	Court held Greene admitted no actual prejudice and produced no evidence of prosecutorial misbehavior; no due-process violation
Whether simple possession of a prescription drug is a lesser-included offense of possession with intent to distribute when defendant was not charged with simple possession	The “unless obtained…by prescription” clause in §5-601(a)(1) is an element the State must disprove, so convictions for uncharged simple possession exceed jurisdiction	The “unless” clause is an exception/affirmative defense under §5-807; the State need not negate it; simple possession is a lesser-included offense	Court held the clause is an exception/affirmative defense and simple possession is a lesser-included offense; convictions were valid

Key Cases Cited

Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (establishes four-factor speedy trial balancing test)
Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647 (delay must be presumptively prejudicial to trigger Barker inquiry)
United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307 (measures delay from arrest/charge to trial)
United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1 (if government dismisses charges in good faith, Sixth Amendment does not apply to pre-filing delay)
State v. Henson, 335 Md. 326 (Maryland recognition of MacDonald good-faith exception)
Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299 (required-evidence test for lesser-included offenses)
Clark v. State, 364 Md. 611 (due-process test for pre-indictment delay: actual prejudice and deliberate government action)