Parks v. State

Murphy, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Appellant was convicted by the court sitting without a jury under two separate indictments charging (1) grand larceny on July 6, 1967 of the property of Marie Matusky, consisting of certain clothing, and (2) robbery of Leonard Nunnally with a deadly weapon on the same date. He was sentenced to seven years under the jurisdiction of the Department of Correction on the robbery conviction and eighteen months concurrently on the larceny conviction. He contends on this appeal (a) as to the grand larceny conviction, that he was illegally arrested and that items seized from him as a result of such illegal arrest were improperly admitted into evidence at his trial, and (b) as to the offense of robbery with a deadly weapon, that the prosecut ⁴³⁴ ing witness’s identification of him as the robber was inadmissible.

The pertinent facts pertaining to the conviction for larceny-are these: At approximately 2:00 a.m., on July 6, 1967, Officers John Koch and James Dowdy, while cruising in their police car in Baltimore City, observed two men, later identified as the appellant and Jerry Brown, walking on South Charles Street, each carrying a bundle of clothing. As the officers approached the two men in their car, Brown threw his bundle on the pavement and both men continued walking. The officers emerged' from their car and questioned the men, neither of whom gave any explanation as to “where they got the clothes.” The officers then arrested the two men for littering. At the trial, it was admitted that only Brown littered the street with his bundle of clothing and that appellant at no time discarded his bundle.

There was an objection to the admissibility of the clothing taken from the appellant at the time of the arrest. The court admitted the evidence on the ground that appellant’s arrest for littering was lawful, and that consequently the seizure of the clothing incident thereto was also lawful. Although it is not clear from the record, it would appear that appellant’s arrest for “littering” was based upon Section 468 of Article 27 of the Maryland Code (1967 Repl. Vol., 1967 Supp.), which makes it a misdemeanor for any person, without consent, to throw or deposit “any trash, junk or other refuse upon the land or