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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND

No. 2591 September Term, 2007

MYRON XAVIER HICKS v. STATE OF MARYLAND

Wright, Kehoe, Sharer, J. Frederick, (Retired, Specially Assigned)

JJ.

Opinion by Kehoe, J.

Filed: November 25, 2009

A jury sitting in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County convicted Myron Xavier Hicks, appellant, of possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, possession of a regulated firearm after a conviction for a disqualifying crime, and possession of a regulated firearm after conviction for a crime of violence. The jury acquitted appellant of carrying a handgun, transporting a handgun on a roadway, of obliterating the identification number of a firearm, and of resisting arrest.1 The sentencing court imposed a five-year term of incarceration, without parole, for each conviction, with the terms to run concurrently. Appellant presents three questions for our review, which we quote: 1. Did the lower court err in denying appellant's motion to suppress the firearm? 2. Did the trial court err in allowing the jury to return inconsistent verdicts? 3. Did the trial court err in denying appellant's motion to reconsider the prior motion for judgment of acquittal? For the reasons that follow, we shall affirm the judgments below. BACKGROUND The following facts were adduced at a suppression hearing held on August 24, 2007. On April 25, 2007, Officer Noah Waters and Officer Kevron Gottlieb, of the Prince George's County Police Department, were working a "special overtime assignment" in Oxon Hill. About 11:02 p.m., the officers observed a blue four-door sedan parked at the gas pumps

Appellant was also charged with second degree assault in relation to this incident. That charge, however, was severed from the other charges for trial purposes and nol prossed post trial.

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of a Shell gas station located at Wheeler Road and Southern Avenue. Two people occupied the vehicle: a driver, later identified as Milton Lee Jennings, and appellant, who was seated in the front passenger seat. The vehicle was not running, its lights were off, and the occupants were not pumping gasoline. The officers observed the vehicle and its occupants, who remained sitting in the car, for about 15 minutes.2 Officer Waters then observed Jennings get out of the vehicle. He testified that "another person approach[ed] him, they didn't have conversation, and it appeared to be a hand-to-hand

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Maryland Law