Opinion ID: 2264301
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Future criminality

Text: Petitioner contends that the State improperly argued that petitioner would, if allowed to roam free, sexually abuse his cousin's eleven-year-old child implying that he was already setting the child up by allowing the mother and child to live in his apartment. The Court of Special Appeals recognized that we have not addressed the issue of the allegation of future criminality in a prosecutor's closing argument. Lawson, 160 Md.App. at 631, 865 A.2d at 634. That court then looked at other state court opinions to guide them in their analysis. State v. Brown, 131 Idaho 61, 951 P.2d 1288, 1297 (1998); State v. Williams, 145 S.W.3d 874 (Mo.Ct.App.2004); Williams v. State, 261 Ga.App. 511, 583 S.E.2d 172, 177 (2003); People v. McNeal, 175 Ill.2d 335, 222 Ill.Dec. 307, 677 N.E.2d 841, 855 (1997). The court found that such arguments are improper because they are based upon facts not in evidence at trial. Lawson, 160 Md.App. at 631, 865 A.2d at 634. We agree with the Court of Special Appeals that such statements are improper, furthermore we find that such statements, under the circumstances here present, were highly prejudicial to the defendant.