Knott v. Director, Patuxent Institution

Per Curiam. On December 18, 1968, the applicant Charles M. Knott was adjudicated a defective delinquent within the meaning of the Maryland Defective Delinquent Act in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Judge Patrick M. Schnauffer sitting without a jury. Following his commitment to Patuxent Institution, he expressed his desire to file an application for leave to appeal from Judge Schnauffer’s determination, stating in a letter to this court, dated December 29, 1968, that he felt his attorney was incompetent. He alleged that there were “charges brought up in court that [he] was never convicted of” and that his attorney “wouldn’t say a thing in [his] defense.” Subsequently, his court-appointed counsel filed a supplemental application for leave to appeal, stating therein that applicant’s counsel at the defective delinquency hearing was incompetent for failure to object to the introduction in evidence of “certain criminal charges and convictions for which he, * * * had never been convicted.” Counsel also urged on applicant’s behalf that the defective delinquency hearing was unfair and improper because the psychiatrist testifying on behalf of the State made reference to applicant’s record of arrests and criminal convictions; and that applicant was being held at Patuxent “because of á drinking