Cox v. Warden of Maryland Penitentiary

Hammond, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. In this application for leave to appeal, the applicant Cox makes a number of contentions as to the involuntariness of a confession, inadequacy of counsel at his trial, denial of counsel while in police custody, that his lawyer entered a guilty plea without his consent, and that the trial judge made no inquiry or determination as to whether he knew the consequences of a guilty plea. Cox pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery in 1961 and was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment by Judge Joseph Carter. In 1962 Cox applied for post conviction relief, making the same contentions he now makes.

Judge Cardin denied relief, rejecting on the merits the claim of inadequacy of counsel ²³¹ and holding that the other contentions were not reviewable in a post conviction proceeding, although it could have been inferred from what he said that he found as a fact that Cox’s guilty plea had been made knowingly and voluntarily. We affirmed the denial of relief in Cox v. Warden, 232 Md. 615 , on the ground that Judge Cardin had made such a finding of fact as to the plea of guilty. Cox sought relief in the federal courts. Judge Watkins sent him back to the State courts to reapply for post conviction relief in the light of Townsend v. Sain, 372 U. S. 293 , 9 L. Ed. 2d 770 , and Fay v. Noia, 372 U. S. 391 , 9 L. Ed. 2d 837 .

Cox then sought post conviction relief before Judge Harlan, who denied it. Cox then filed a second habeas corpus petition in the District Court and again was summarily denied relief by Judge Watkins on the ground he had deliberately bypassed a state remedy by failing to appeal Judge Harlan’s action to this Court. Cox appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed Judge Watkins but modified his order so that the dismissal of Cox’s petition for habeas corpus was without prejudice. See Hunt v.