Appeals Court Overturns Overdose Manslaughter Conviction; ‘State Failed To Establish A Casual Connection’

BERLIN — It remains possible and likely probable that prosecutors will continue to try and convict drug dealers when their customers die, but in at least one local case, a state appeals court has made it more difficult.

In what has become an increasingly utilized weapon in the battle over the growing heroin epidemic, prosecutors have been successful in gaining manslaughter convictions for drug dealers whose customers fatally overdose. There have been a handful of such cases already in Worcester County where heroin dealers have been found guilty of manslaughter when he or she supplied the drugs that ultimately caused the fatal overdose of another individual.

In one local case, however, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals last week reversed the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Patrick Thomas, now 61, of Berlin, for supplying the heroin that caused the fatal overdose of another local man in June 2015. Thomas was sentenced to 20 years for a possession with intent to distribute heroin and 10 years for the manslaughter conviction. He did not challenge the possession with intent to distribute conviction and will continue to serve his sentence on that count.

However, he appealed the manslaughter conviction on the grounds there was not a direct connection between his sale of heroin to the victim and the victim’s death at a different place and time from where the transaction took place. Last week, the Court of Special Appeals agreed with Thomas’ assertion and reversed the manslaughter conviction in what could prove to be a test for similar cases going forward. It’s important to note the Court of Special Appeals’ lengthy opinion in the Thomas case does not make any broad determination on similar prosecution efforts in the future, but in this particular case points out the state was not successful in illustrating a direct connection between the heroin sale and the victim’s death.

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