Mason v. State

Per Curiam. Appellant was tried under five separate indictments before a jury in the Criminal Court of Baltimore and found guilty of assault with intent to rape, burglary, and two counts of com ⁷⁷⁰ mon law assault. He was sentenced to a total of thirty years imprisonment, the sentences on the common law assault counts being concurrent with the sentences imposed under the other two counts. Appellant contends on this appeal that as a matter of constitutional law, the State’s failure to provide him with counsel at his preliminary hearing necessitates reversal of his conviction.

In Timbers v. State, 2 Md. App. 672 , we held that the basic purpose of the preliminary hearing in Maryland is to determine whether to hold the accused for the action of the Grand Jury; that where (as here) the accused enters a plea of not guilty, (or no plea) at the preliminary hearing, such a hearing is not, of itself, and in the absence of unusual circumstances, such a critical stage in the judicial process as to require appointment of counsel for an indigent accused; and that although a preliminary hearing does, as an incidental by-product, afford some opportunity to an accused for discovery, the constitution .does not, for that reason, require appointment of counsel at that non-critical stage of the proceeding. We adhere to these views and, therefore, find no merit in appellant’s contention. Appellant next contends that there was insufficient evidence to sustain his conviction for burglary. The elements necessary to constitute the crime of common law burglary (with which appellant was charged) include breaking and entering in the nighttime of a dwelling house of another with intent to