Akins v. State

Liss, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This case should be read in conjunction with Walmsley v. State, 35 Md. App. 148 (1976). The appellant, Charles Edward Akins, was issued a citation charging him with violating Md. Code art. 66V2, § 6-303, which proscribes driving a motor vehicle on any public highway of the State of Maryland at a time when one’s license or privilege to drive has been canceled, refused, suspended, or revoked. The appellant prayed a jury trial in the District Court of Maryland located in Bel Air, Harford County, and the case was transferred to the Circuit Court for Harford County.

When the case was called again for trial the appellant entered a plea of not guilty and requested a court trial. The presiding trial judge found the appellant guilty as charged and imposed a suspended sentence of one year in the Harford County Detention Center. It is from this judgment that this appeal was filed. The sole question before this Court is whether the evidence was sufficient to support the appellant’s conviction for driving on a public highway at a time when his driving license was revoked.

The factual situation in this case is relatively simple. Officer Blackburn of the Bel Air Police Department was in the process of investigating a possible larceny from a Salvation Army bin located in a privately owned shopping center. He noticed a motor vehicle, which was being operated near the bin, approach the exit lane leading from the parking lot to U.S. Route 1 adjoining the shopping center. It is conceded that the officer did not see the vehicle being ¹⁵⁷ operated in any area other than the parking lot and the exit lane.

The officer stopped the vehicle and found the appellant behind the wheel. Upon further investigation the officer determined that the appellant’s driving license had been revoked by the Motor Vehicle Administration. It is conceded that the traffic light on U.S. Route 4, which controls traffic exiting the shopping plaza, is owned and operated by the State of Maryland, and that the State erected and maintains two traffic signs at the exit, i.e., a stop sign and a right turn only sign. It also was stipulated that the portion of the Bel Air Plaza shopping center in which the appellant was observed operating his vehicle is not owned, operated or maintained by the State, County or City of Bel Air.

In Walmsley, supra, Chief Judge Gilbert, speaking for this Court, pointed out