Unit of Prosecution for Specific Offenses

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

IX. Unit of prosecution for specific offenses

A. Use of a handgun in a crime of violence

Because the gravamen of "use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence" is the "use," each "use" is a separate unit of offense or unit of criminality. Battle v. State, 65 Md. App. 38, 51 (1985). Thus, although there was only one handgun, in one criminal transaction, that handgun was "used" to facilitate each of the three simultaneously committed robberies and, thus, there are three counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a felony or crime of violence. Id. The unit of offense or unit of criminality is the number of felonies of crimes of violence for which the handgun is used. Battle, 65 Md. App. at 50.

B. Possession...