Hanks v. Warden of the Maryland Penitentiary

Per Curiam. Napoleon Hanks, Jr., was indicted, along with three other persons, for robbery with a deadly weapon. At his arraignment in the Criminal Court of Baltimore on October 5, 1961, he pleaded “not guilty.” Subsequently, in open court on October 19, 1961, he changed his plea to guilty, and Hanks and his three fellow felons were each sentenced to twenty years in the Maryland Penitentiary by Judge Joseph Carter. No appeal was taken.

(At both of the above mentioned proceedings Hanks was represented by counsel employed by his family.) On January 23, 1963, Hanks filed a petition under the Uniform Post Conviction Procedure Act in which he set down the following grounds for relief: (1) an improper search and seizure had occurred; (2) evidence was obtained illegally without a warrant; (3) no probable cause existed for his arrest; (4) no offense had been committed in a police officer’s presence ; (5) his conduct did not establish cause to be arrested without a warrant; (6) the State failed to prove the corpus delicti; (7) the prosecuting witness did not testify; (8) his counsel was not permitted to cross-examine the State’s witnesses; ⁶⁶³ (9) the statement made by the prosecuting witness was not made until four months after the happening of the crime, and, therefore, was not with the res gestae; (10) the evidence presented was insufficient to convict; (11) since he