Culley v. Warden of Maryland House of Correction

Horney, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an application by Samuel L. Culley for leave to appeal from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus by Rollins, J., of the Circuit Court for Cecil County. The applicant was previously denied leave to appeal from a denial of the writ (by Mason, J., of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore), on June 19, 1958. See Culley v. Warden, 217 Md. 660, 143 A. 2d 61 (1958).

The applicant pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County (Taylor, J.), and was sentenced to a term of eight years in the House of Correction. The applicant, who has filed more than twenty petitions for writs of habeas corpus and “mandamus,” by his petition for the writ and his supplemental and amended petition for a rehearing, addressed to Judge Rollins, assigned several reasons why he should be granted the writ. ⁶⁴¹ Judge Rollins in an opinion filed March 27, 1958, and a supplemental opinion filed April 9, 1958, properly ruled that after a conviction: (i) an illegal arrest and detention in jail without the placement of a charge was not reviewable on habeas corpus [Azulay v. Warden, 214 Md. 617 , 135 A. 2d 453 (1957)] ; (ii) the failure to grant the petitioner a preliminary hearing and bond are matters that could be raised on appeal but not by habeas corpus