Mason v. State, 223

Citation225 Md. 74,169 A.2d 445
Decision Date06 April 1961
Docket NumberNo. 223,223
PartiesJerome MASON v. STATE of Maryland.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland

Donald P. Roman Baltimore, for appellant.

Clayton A. Dietrich, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Thomas B. Finan, Atty. Gen., Saul A Harris, State's Atty. and Robert V. Lazzaro, Asst. State's Atty., Baltimore, on the brief), for appellee.

Before BRUNE, C. J., and HENDERSON, HAMMOND, PRESCOTT and HORNEY, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Jerome Mason, the appellant, was tried before Judge Carter in the Criminal Court of Baltimore, sitting without a jury, on charges of assault with intent to murder one Henry McCormick and of assaulting and beating one John Bethea. He was sentenced to imprisonment on these charges for terms of ten years and of two years, respectively, the sentences to run concurrently. On this appeal he contends that these convictions are unsupported by the evidence. We find no merit whatever in his contentions.

There was evidence to show that Mason attempted to stab Bethea in the back, that McCormick shoved Bethea out of the way of Mason's knife and in so doing pushed Bethea over; that, nevertheless, Bethea's coat was cut; that Mason struck Bethea after he was down; that Mason then turned on McCormick and stabbed him with an eight-inch knife at a point in McCormick's chest within two inches of his heart; that Bethea was with the police officer and identified Mason when the officer arrested Mason within one hour after the stabbing; that Mason was later identified in a police line-up by Bethea and by Mrs. McCormick, who had been an eyewitness of the attacks; and that McCormick had been at the hospital for some days because of the seriousness of his wound and had therefore been unable to be present at the police station line-up. Mason was again identified in court by Bethea and Mrs. McCormick as the assailant and was also there identified by McCormick. Against this was Mason's denial of the charges; and there were some differences in recollection between the identifying witnesses as to the clothing Mason was wearing at the time of the attacks and as to the color thereof.

Our review on appeal of the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction in a non-jury case is limited (as has been said repeatedly) to a determination of whether the evidence together with proper inferences therefrom, was such that the trial judge could fairly be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt; and his findings of fact are not to be set...

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13 cases
  • Price v. State
    • United States
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • November 17, 1961
    ...We therefore hold this contention of the appellant to be untenable. Williams v. State, 223 Md. 339, 340, 164 A.2d 467; Mason v. State, 225 Md. 74, 76, 169 A.2d 445; Dyson v. State, 226 Md. 18, 21, 171 A.2d We now turn to the first and principal question. The State offered evidence, which, i......
  • Wilson v. State
    • United States
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • April 16, 1971
    ...See Gibson v. State, 238 Md. 414, 417, 209 A.2d 242 (1965); Graczyk v. State, 233 Md. 245, 246, 196 A.2d 469 (1964); Mason v. State, 225 Md. 74, 76, 169 A.2d 445 (1961); Cummings v. State, 223 Md. 606, 611, 165 A.2d 886 (1960), cert, den., 366 U.S. 922, 81 S.Ct. 1098, 6 L.Ed.2d 243 (1961), ......
  • Mason v. Warden, Maryland Penitentiary, Civ. A. No. 13566.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Maryland
    • September 7, 1962
    ...to run concurrently with the former. Mason, by counsel Mr. Donald P. Roman, took a direct appeal to the Maryland Court of Appeals. 225 Md. 74, 169 A.2d 445. The substantial point made on the appeal was the insufficiency of the evidence to warrant a conviction. This was fully considered and ......
  • Oakley v. State
    • United States
    • Maryland Court of Appeals
    • March 8, 1965
    ...by proven facts which permit a reasonable inference of its presence. Cooper v. State, 220 Md. 183, 152 A.2d 120. We held in Mason v. State, 225 Md. 74, 169 A.2d 445, that stabbing a man with an eight-inch knife in a vital part of his body was sufficient to sustain a finding of guilt of assa......
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