Gohn v. Director of Patuxent Institution

Henderson, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. In this application for leave to appeal from a denial of post conviction relief by Judge Sodaro, the applicant first contends that “no witness testified against me at my original trial with respect to the commission of the crime.” If we assume, without deciding, that this allegation goes not merely to the sufficiency of the evidence (as Judge Sodaro thought) but to a denial of a constitutional right, we find no support for the allegation in the record. Judge Sodaro stated in his opinion filed herein that he had reviewed the transcript of the testimony at the trial for the purpose of passing upon the legality of his arrest (a point abandoned in this application). He pointed out that the applicant was found in an injured condition, near a stolen automobile that had crashed on the Jones Falls Expressway.

He was taken to the Maryland General Hospital, and freely admitted that he had been riding in the damaged car, although he denied that he was the driver. The circumstantial evidence plus his admission was clearly sufficient to permit the trier of facts to draw the inference that he was guilty of unauthorized use, the crime for which he was convicted. The second contention is that he is “serving two sentences for