Ruckle v. Warden of Md. Penitentiary

• Decision Date: 21 October 1959
• Docket Number: No. 29,29
• Citation: Ruckle v. Warden of Md. Penitentiary, 155 A.2d 69, 220 Md. 683 (Md. 1959)
• Parties: Morris RUCKLE v. WARDEN OF MARYLAND PENITENTIARY. Post Conviction Application
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 683

220 Md. 683

155 A.2d 69

Morris RUCKLE v. WARDEN OF MARYLAND PENITENTIARY.

Post Conviction Application No. 29.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Oct. 21, 1959.

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

PER CURIAM.

Morris Ruckle (Ruckle), the applicant for leave to appeal, together with Charles E. Midgett (Midgett), had appealed his conviction for the robbery and kidnapping of a police officer [Midgett v. State, 1958, 216 Md. 26, 139 A.2d 209]. Ruckle subsequently dismissed his appeal before it was heard by this Court. On May 13, 1959, Judge Tucker, upon the petition of Ruckle for post conviction relief, set aside the judgment and sentence of the Criminal Court of Baltimore and granted the petitioner a new trial on the ground that he--as we had held with respect to Midgett--had been denied his 'absolute right to be present at every stage of his trial from the time the jury is impaneled until it reached a verdict or is discharged.' However, the petitioner below and applicant here contends that because he had dismissed his appeal from the invalid judgment and sentence, he was entitled to immediate and final release from custody and that granting him...