Court Opinion

ID: 9764891
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:43:00.775234+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:02.160101
License: Public Domain

RAKER, J.,
concurring, joined by ELDRIDGE, J.:
I join in the judgment of the Court affirming the conviction for unlawfully transporting a handgun. Based on the plain language of the statute, and the evidence presented, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, together with all reasonable inferences that may legitimately be drawn therefrom (including the statutory rebuttable presumption of knowledge), the evidence supports a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction.
Respondent was convicted of unlawfully transporting a handgun, in violation of Maryland Code (1957, 1996 Repl.Vol., 2001 Cum.Supp.) Art. 27 § 36B.1 Section 36B(b) states in relevant part:
“Any person who shall wear, carry, or transport any handgun, whether concealed or open, upon or about his person, and any person who shall wear, carry or knowingly transport any handgun, whether concealed or open, in any vehicle traveling upon the public roads, highways, waterways, or airways or upon roads or parking lots generally used by the public in this State shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and it shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person is knowingly transporting the handgun----”
§ 36B (emphasis added). Upon reviewing the issues in this case, the only contested matter was whether respondent had knowledge of the handgun in the trunk of the automobile that *563he had leased and that he was driving when the gun was found by the police.
The plain language of the statute creates a rebuttable presumption that a person who transports a handgun in a vehicle is “knowingly transporting” that handgun. See § 36B(b). Before the Circuit Court, at the motion for judgment of acquittal, the State argued that this presumption rendered the evidence presented sufficient to satisfy the element of knowledge. I agree.
In response to defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, the State argued that the statute creates a rebuttable presumption that the person is knowingly transporting a handgun. Defense counsel argued that the statutory presumption was unconstitutional. Neither the Circuit Court nor the Court of Special Appeals included the presumption in their analysis. In a footnote to the plurality opinion, four members of the Court of Special Appeals gratuitously “held” that the statutory presumption was unconstitutional. See Smith v. State, 145 Md.App. 400, 407 n. 2, 805 A.2d 1108, 1112 n. 2 (2002).2
*564Although' neither party challenged this statement in the certiorari petition, and the issue was never raised before this Court, I believe that it is a proper basis for this Court’s analysis. The issue before this Court, and upon which certiorari was granted, was whether “the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction of the [respondent] for transporting a handgun.” To determine the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court should examine the offense with which the respondent was charged in its entirety. Section 36B contains a rebuttable presumption of knowledge which cannot be ignored nor read out of the statute. Statutes are presumed to be valid and constitutional, and the burden is upon the one attacking it to establish clearly that it is unconstitutional. See Lucky Stores, Inc. v. Board of Appeals, 270 Md. 513, 526, 312 A.2d 758, 765 (1973); Davis v. Helbig, 27 Md. 452, (1867). Unless the issue of the constitutionality of the statute is raised properly, it is waived. See State v. Burning Tree Club, 301 Md. 9, 36, 481 A.2d 785, 799 (1984); Hope v. Baltimore County, 288 Md. 656, 661, 421 A.2d 576, 579 (1980); Department of Natural Resources v. Linchester, 274 Md. 211, 218, 334 A.2d 514, 520 (1975); Beauchamp v. Somerset County, 256 Md. 541, 547, 261 *565A.2d 461, 463 (1970). Moreover, it is a well-accepted rule of statutory construction that if a statute is susceptible of one construction that is constitutional and one that is unconstitutional, the statute should be construed as constitutional. See State v. Taylor, 371 Md. 617, 643-44, 810 A.2d 964, 979 (2002); Farrell v. State, 364 Md. 499, 506, 774 A.2d 387, 391 (2001); Becker v. State, 363 Md. 77, 92, 767 A.2d 816, 824 (2001); 2A Norman J. Singer, Sutherland Statutes and Statutory Construction § 45.11 (4th ed.1984). Cf. Curran v. Price, 334 Md. 149, 172, 638 A.2d 93, 104-105 (1994) (“If a statute is susceptible of two reasonable interpretations, one of which would involve a decision as to its constitutionality, the preferred construction is that which avoids the determination of constitutionality”). The constitutionality of the statute was not raised on appeal.
As the majority points out, respondent was the driver and lessee of the vehicle in which the handgun was found. He had possessed the vehicle for a fairly long period of time — approximately one week. As the lessee/driver of the car and the person with the keys to the trunk, he had the primary control and access to the trunk. These facts are sufficient to support a finding that respondent was transporting the handgun. None of the parties dispute this.
Under the statute, the State’s evidence of transportation shifted the burden of production to respondent to rebut the presumption that he had knowledge of the gun. The ultimate burden of persuasion remains on the State to prove the element of knowledge. The presence of passengers in the car, the location of a jacket that may have belonged to a passenger, and the potential access to the trunk through the back seat may support an inference that the gun belonged to someone other than the driver. The evidence is not, however, sufficient, as a matter of law, to rebut the statutory presumption. As the majority reasons, the trier of fact may choose the inferences or evidence upon which it relies. Thus, in my opinion, the evidence that respondent had knowledge of the *566gun was sufficient to sustain the conviction for transporting the weapon.
Judge ELDRIDGE has authorized me to state that he joins in this concurring opinion.

. Unless otherwise indicated, all subsequent statutory references shall be to Maryland Code (1957, 1996 Repl.Vol., 2001 Cum.Supp.) Art. 27 § 36B (current version at Maryland Code (2002) § 4-203 of the Criminal Law Article).

. As authority, the plurality opinion of the Court of Special Appeals relied on Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979). Sandstrom addressed the shifting of the burden of proof — not the burden of production. See County Court of Ulster County v. Allen, 442 U.S. 140, 156-57, 99 S.Ct. 2213, 2224-25, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979) (distinguishing "[t]he most common evidentiary device ... the entirely permissive inference or presumption, which allows — but does not require — the trier of fact to infer the elemental fact from proof by the prosecutor of the basic one and which places no burden of any kind on the defendant” from “far more troublesome” mandatory presumptions). The Ulster County Court noted that “[t]o the extent that a presumption imposes an extremely low burden of production — e. g., being satisfied by ‘any’ evidence — it may well be that its impact is no greater than that of a permissive inference, and it may be proper to analyze it as such.” Id. at 160, 99 S.Ct. at 2226, 60 L.Ed.2d 777. See generally Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U.S. 684, 703 n. 31, 95 S.Ct. 1881, 1891 n. 31, 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975).
The intermediate appellate court also erroneously drew support from language contained in the commentary to Maryland Pattern Jury Instruction 4:35.3 advising judges when instructing a jury to refrain from using the word “presumption” and instead to use the word "inference.” The Pattern Jury Instruction comment should not be read as support for the view that the statutory presumption is unconstitutional, but *564rather it should be considered in the context of jury instructions. The prevailing view is that a jury instruction should not use the word "presumption” because a jury is unlikely to understand the legal distinction between a rebuttable presumption and a mandatory presumption which shifts the burden of persuasion (the presumption of innocence is a different story). See Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307, 315-16, 105 S.Ct. 1965, 1971-72, 85 L.Ed.2d 344 (1985); Charles M. Cork, III, Special Contribution: Annual Survey of Georgia Law June 1, 2001-May 31, 2002: A Better Orientation for Jury Instructions, 54 Mercer L.Rev. 1, 49-52 (2002); Leslie J. Harris, Criminal Law: Constitutional Limits on Criminal Presumptions as an Expression of Changing Concepts of Fundamental Fairness, 77 J.Crim. L. & Criminology 308 (1986); McCormick on Evidence § 348, 476 (5th ed.1999); David E. Aaronson, Maryland Criminal Jury Instructions and Commentary app. V, at887 (2nded,1988).
The Court of Special Appeals also cited an opinion of the Maryland Attorney General, 57 Op. Md. Att'y Gen. 288 (1972). The opinion, discussing the meaning of the term "transport” in § 36B(b), did not address the rebuttable presumption contained in the statute. While an opinion of the Attorney General may, at times, have persuasive effect, the cited opinion is irrelevant to the present discussion.