Williams v. State of Maryland

• Decision Date: 04 April 1974
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 71-160-K.
• Citation: 375 F. Supp. 745
• Parties: Robert Lee WILLIAMS #105750 v. STATE OF MARYLAND.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

375 F. Supp. 745

Robert Lee WILLIAMS #105750 v. STATE OF MARYLAND.

Civ. No. 71-160-K.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

March 28, 1974.

April 4, 1974.

Nevett Steele, Jr., Baltimore, Md., for petitioner.

Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen., of Md., Clarence W. Sharp and Donald R. Stutman, Asst. Attys. Gen., of Md., Baltimore, Md., for respondent.

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, District Judge.

Robert Lee Williams, presently confined in the Maryland State Penitentiary, and represented herein by counsel appointed by this Court, seeks habeas corpus relief for the first time. On June 15, 1963 Williams was arrested on various charges including, inter alia, assault with intent to murder, none of which charges were factually related to those which resulted in the conviction attacked herein. Following his June 15, 1963 arrest, Williams was placed in custody. That custody has continued uninterruptedly since June 15, 1963. On November 26, 1963, Williams was served with an additional arrest warrant charging him with murder.

On January 23, 1964, after a trial before Judge J. Harold Grady in the Criminal Court of Baltimore commencing on January 21, 1964, Williams was convicted on the assault charge. Six days later, on January 29, 1964, Williams' jury trial on the murder charge, Judge Charles D. Harris presiding, began in the Criminal Court of Baltimore. On January 31, 1964 Williams was found guilty in that trial of first degree murder and on May 13, 1965 he was sentenced to a life term by Judge Harris in connection therewith. On that latter date, Williams was also sentenced in the assault case to a term of fifteen years by Judge Grady, that sentence to be served consecutively with the life sentence imposed in the murder case.

Timely appeals to the Court of Appeals of Maryland were noted in each case. During the pendency of those appeals the Court of Appeals of Maryland filed its opinion in Schowgurow v. State, 240 Md. 121, 213 A.2d 475 (1965).¹ On January 11, 1966, both of the cases involving Williams were remanded by the Court of Appeals for further proceedings in the light of Schowgurow. In accordance with those remands, on March 10, 1966 Williams' motions to dismiss the indictments in the two cases were granted. On June 28, 1966 Williams was reindicted on both the assault and the murder charges.

More than two years after the June, 1966 indictment was returned, Williams was tried on the assault with intent to murder charge in the Criminal Court of Baltimore and found guilty thereof on October 8, 1968. On that same date, the trial judge, Judge Solomon Liss, sentenced Williams to fifteen years, said term to commence as of the time of Williams' arrest on June 15, 1963. Williams' said assault conviction was affirmed on appeal by the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland on June 6, 1969. Subsequently, the Court of Appeals of Maryland declined further discretionary review. Williams does not in any way contest herein the validity of his confinement under the sentence imposed by Judge Liss.

On July 17, 1969, nearly three years and one month after his reindictment for murder, Williams' jury trial before Chief Judge Dulany Foster commenced. On July 18, 1969 the jury returned a verdict of guilty of first degree murder (without capital punishment); and on July 23, 1969, after denial of Williams' motion for a new trial, a life sentence was imposed by Judge Foster, said sentence to begin at the expiration of the fifteen-year sentence Williams was then serving for assault. On August 4, 1970 Williams' 1969 murder conviction was affirmed in a per curiam opinion by the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. That Court, however, remanded Williams' case in order that his commitment might be corrected so as to afford him credit for the time served between the date of his original conviction for murder and the date on which his original indictment was dismissed pursuant to Schowgurow. Thereafter, the Court of Appeals of Maryland, in the exercise of its discretion, refused to undertake any further review.

In its unreported August 4, 1970 per curiam opinion, the Court of Special Appeals (at pp. 2-6) summarized the testimony in Williams' July 1969 murder trial as follows:

Detective Howard Corbin testified that he was the investigating officer in the death of Theresa Barnes which had occurred on July 27, 1962. The autopsy performed upon Theresa Barnes was admitted into evidence by stipulation. The autopsy revealed the cause of death as multiple, blunt force injuries of the head and neck producing in the brain a subdural hematoma over the right cerebrum and extensive subarachnoid hemorrhage and partial obstruction of the pharynx, larynx and trachea by blood and mucus. A vaginal smear was positive for the presence of sperm.

Clarence Merriweather testified as follows concerning the events of July 27, 28, 1962. At the time he was living at 1202 Lexington Street, the scene of the murder. At approximately 7:30 p. m. on July 27, 1962, Merriweather arrived at the home of the appellant, Robert Lee Williams, to attend a party given by Williams and his wife. After the party had progressed for some four hours an altercation arose, as a result of which appellant asked Merriweather if he would ride with Williams and Theresa Barnes to Merriweather's apartment. The three entered the appellant's car and drove to Merriweather's apartment where they were met by Sylvia Briscoe and Louis Williams, the appellant's brother, who were sitting in the front room of the apartment. After their arrival, two other girls joined the group, Eleanor Hunter and Mary Pratt, known as Apple Pie. The appellant and Barnes went into the kitchen and Merriweather, Hunter and Pratt went into the back yard at approximately 12:00 midnight. After about fifteen minutes Apple Pie left and went home to Hunter's apartment. Merriweather and Hunter were sitting on the wall in the yard drinking when Merriweather heard a groan from the kitchen and asked the appellant what was going on. The appellant replied that nothing was going on. Ten minutes later, Merriweather heard another groan, went to the kitchen door to investigate and was met by appellant who stated that everything was all right. An hour later, Merriweather heard a scream from the kitchen and the appellant emerged from the back door with a handkerchief wrapped around his hand. Appellant took Eleanor Hunter home, and Merriweather returned to the house. He passed through the kitchen on the way to his bedroom and saw Barnes lying on a mattress but did not speak to her. On the morning of July 28, 1962 Merriweather was awakened by Louis Williams and they proceeded to the kitchen where they found Barnes on the mattress with her eyes and mouth swollen. Merriweather concluded that the girl was dead and he and Louis carried the body outside. Merriweather and Louis proceeded to Eleanor Hunter's house where they found appellant and Hunter asleep on a bed in the basement. They told the appellant Barnes was dead and he replied "Well, I must have hit that girl too hard." Appellant told everyone to keep quiet and no one would get into any trouble.

Eleanor Hunter substantiated Merriweather's testimony as to the events of the night of July 27th after her arrival at Merriweather's apartment. After Apple Pie had left and she and Merriweather were sitting in the back yard, she entered the house to go to the bathroom. She went through the kitchen and saw the appellant and Barnes lying on the mattress. Barnes requested to be shown where the bathroom was and while she was in the bathroom with Barnes, Hunter noticed that Barnes' mouth was swollen and that she had been crying. Upon returning to the kitchen, Hunter told the appellant not to hit Barnes anymore and appellant replied "Okay." Hunter testified that while in the back yard she heard moaning and screaming coming from the kitchen on several occasions. She testified that when appellant was awakened the next morning at her house and Merriweather said "You must have hit the girl awful hard," appellant stated he didn't mean to do it.

The testimony of Sylvia Briscoe from a prior proceeding was then introduced into evidence over defense objection. Briscoe testified that she was babysitting at Merriweather's house when first Louis Williams, then Robert Williams, Merriweather and Barnes, and then Hunter and Pratt arrived. She and Louis were seated in the front room and appellant and the deceased were in the kitchen. Louis told her to go outside the apartment and locked the door. She reentered the apartment through the kitchen door, and saw Barnes lying on the mattress with her skirt up and her blouse open. The appellant was getting off the mattress and pulling his pants up. Briscoe left the house to purchase some hamburgers and upon her return saw Barnes still on the mattress in the kitchen. Barnes' face and neck were swollen and there was blood in her nose and ears. Briscoe's testimony concluded the State's case in chief and appellant moved for judgment of acquittal which was denied.

Mary Pratt, also known as Apple Pie, testified that on the evening of July 27, 1962 she accompanied Eleanor Hunter to Clarence Merriweather's apartment. Pratt testified that upon their arrival, Hunter saw Merriweather and Barnes in the kitchen, broke the kitchen door down, and argued with Merriweather. Pratt later saw the appellant leave the house, get in his car and drive away. After the appellant left, Pratt saw Barnes in the kitchen sitting up drinking some water.

The appellant testified in his own behalf as follows: On the evening of July 27, 1962 he and his wife were giving a party and ran out of ground beef. He went to Sagel's Market, met Merriweather and Barnes there and invited them to the party. During the party an argument occurred between Barnes and appellant's wife and the appellant, in separating them, pushed Barnes against a radiator and she bumped her head. Merriweather then asked appellant to drive him and Barnes to

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