Fincher v. Warden of Maryland House of Correction

Bruñe, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an application for leave to appeal from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus by Judge George Henderson of the Circuit Court for Allegany County. The applicant, James W. Brown, alias Robert H. Fincher, was convicted on February 7, 1955, of the crime of larceny and sentenced to a term of two years in the Maryland House of Correction, the sentence to start from the time of his apprehension, January 16, 1955. On February 10, 1955, he was convicted of another offense (violation of probation by deserting and failing to support his wife), and was sentenced to eighteen months in the Maryland House of Correction, the sentence to run consecutively with the one received by him three days before.

On August 1, 1955, the applicant escaped from the House of Correction, and was not apprehended until June 18, 1956, when he was arrested upon suspicion of larceny. On July 6, 1956, he was tried for and convicted of larceny, and sentenced to “One (1) year in the Md. House of Correction. Consecutive with sentence now serving in Md. House of Correction”. Each of the three convictions mentioned above occurred in the Criminal Court of Baltimore.

Petitioner contends that the sentence of eighteen months imposed on February 10, 1955, was to run concurrently with the two-year sentence received by him three days earlier. This