State v. Sowell
Court of Appeals of Maryland
728 A.2d 712 (1999)
Brian Sowell (defendant) allegedly planned an armed robbery of his employer, Recycling Incorporated, including mapping out employee locations, but was on his delivery route elsewhere when three armed men actually carried out the robbery. A co-defendant testified Sowell was the "mastermind" who later split the stolen cash with the others. Sowell was convicted as a principal in the second degree, but the intermediate appellate court reversed, finding the state failed to show he was present at the crime scene, and the state appealed.
Whether Maryland's common law requirement that a principal in the second degree be actually or constructively present at the scene of the crime should be retained or replaced with a broader complicity standard.