Player v. Warden of Maryland House of Correction

Horney, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is an application for leave to appeal from the denial of post conviction relief. The petitioner was convicted of break ⁶²⁰ ing a garage and was sentenced to four years in the House of Correction. Only one ground for relief was alleged in the original petition.

It was to the effect that the State, having proved that the garage had not been broken into, had effectively destroyed one of the elements of the crime of breaking and thereby failed to prove that the crime of “housebreaking” had been committed. The petitioner further stated that he was not “seeking a new trial or an appeal or to test the sufficiency of the evidence,” but was seeking “immediate release from an illegal restraint.” However, when counsel 1 had been appointed to represent him, the petitioner, having sought leave to amend, which was granted, filed an amended petition under oath in which he alleged that he had been denied the right to appeal because his trial attorney failed to file an appeal as directed and because the warden of the county jail prevented him from contacting other counsel. While testifying at the hearing, he further complained that the trial judge never paid any attention to his request for a reduction of the sentence. After two hearings on the petition, Shure, J., found as a fact that trial counsel had never been requested