Hitt v. State

Per Curiam. Edward James Hitt appeals his conviction of robbery with a deadly weapon. In addition to challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him, he contends he was illegally arrested and that as a result certain evidence used against him at his trial was illegally obtained and should not have been admitted. The victim, Smith, a taxicab operator, picked up Hitt as a fare at about 2:15 a. m. on June 27, 1963, and on the latter’s order took him to Eastern Avenue and Robinson Street in Baltimore, where appellant pointed a pistol at Smith and demanded money.

Smith gave Plitt about thirty dollars and a money changer containing coins. As soon as he could, Smith notified the police that he had been robbed. This information was placed on a police broadcast. Sergeant Fialkiewicz in a police car cruising near the scene of the reported crime, proceeded there where he found Smith, who gave him a description of the person who had robbed him.

He then began a search of the neighborhood for a man of this description, and within a few blocks he and another police officer in a separate car came upon Hitt, who fitted the description given by Smith. They appre ⁵⁴⁶ hended him, searched him, and in addition to finding an inordinate amount of change, discovered a loaded pistol in Hitt’s belt on the right side. At this point when asked by the officer why he did it, he volunteered, “You would do anything. You would hold up, too, if your baby needed milk.” A subsequent search of