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In the Circuit Court for Baltimore County Case No. 01CR0603
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND

No. 4 September Term, 2003 ______________________________________

CHRISTOPHER A. DENICOLIS

v.

STATE OF MARYLAND

______________________________________ Bell, C.J. *Eldridge Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia, JJ. ______________________________________ Opinion by Wilner, J. Cathell and Battaglia, JJ., Dissent ______________________________________ Filed: December 10, 2003 *Eldridge, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of this Court; after being recalled pursuant to the Constitution, Article IV, Section 3A, he also participated in the decision and adoption of this opinion.

Petitioner was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County of two counts of solicitation to commit murder, for which he was given concurrent sentences of 20 years in prison. Those judgments were affirmed by the Court of Special Appeals. Petitioner complains that (1) because the two charges were confusing and ambiguous, he was not given sufficient notice of the offenses charged, and (2) the court failed to inform him or his attorney of a note from the jury. We find merit in the second complaint and shall reverse for that reason. The first complaint was not preserved for appeal, but, because the issue will likely arise again when the case is retried, we shall, for the guidance of the trial court, comment on it as well.

BACKGROUND In the Fall of 2000, petitioner and two co-defendants

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