Barnes v. Director of Patuxent Institution

⁶⁴² Hammond, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an application for leave to appeal from a redetermination that the applicant is a defective delinquent. The applicant, Barnes, was convicted in 1957 in the Criminal Court of Baltimore under Code (1957), Art. 27, Sec. 349, for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and was sentenced to not more than two years in the Maryland Reformatory for Males. In 1958 he was found by a jury to be a defective delinquent and was committed to Patuxent for an indeterminate period.

As a result of a petition for redetermination of his status as a defective delinquent, a hearing was held on June 19, 1961, before Judge Manley in Baltimore City, at which Barnes was represented by court-appointed counsel. At the hearing Barnes elected to' have the Judge hear the case without a jury. There were only two witnesses—-Dr. Harold M. Boslow, Director of the Patuxent Institution, and Barnes. The essence of Dr. Boslow’s testimony was that Bar.nes has “demonstrated a persistent aggravated anti-social behavior,” is “intellectually deficient” and “emotionally unbalanced,” and “has clearly demonstrated himself to be an actual danger to society so as to require confinement and treatment.” This testimony was amply supported by several exhibits of institutional reports concerning Barnes’* behavior, clearly showing him to be mentally defective, emotionally unbalanced, and a threat to society.

Barnes’ testimony was mostly to the effect that he was getting along better at Patuxent with the staff than he previously had been doing, that he wanted to go home, and that he thought he could behave himself properly if allowed to do so. Judge Manley found as a matter' of fact that Barnes at present would be a threat to society if permitted his freedom and ordered his recommitment. Subsequently, Barnes filed in this Court his application for leave to appeal, in which