Streeter v. State

Morton, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellant, James Streeter, Jr., was convicted in the Crim ⁴³⁷ inal Court of Baltimore by Judge James A. Perrott, in a non-jury tria.l, of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and of being a rogue and vagabond. He was given consecutive sentences of thirty days, one year and two years, respectively. His Motion for judgment of Acquittal was granted to an indictment for murder.

The record indicates that the appellant was in a carry-out restaurant in Baltimore City about 1:50 A.M. on January 25, 1967. According to the assistant manager, he had consumed one sandwidi and had ordered another but was without funds to pay for it. Since closing time was 2 :00 A.M., the assistant manager asked him to leave and he refused. After several such requests went unheeded, he was told that unless he left, the police would be called.

He refused to leave and, as an individual in the establishment left to get the police, the policeman on the beat walked in the door. The officer made several requests of the appellant to leave and instead of complying, he picked up a table knife and endeavored to slide it into his pocket. The officer promptly retrieved the knife, placed him under arrest and took him out of the shop. The assistant manager testified that he observed them traverse a city block during which time the officer had the appellant by his belt and the appellant was continuously struggling to break away.

Another witness testified that he observed the appellant being taken to the “call box”; that he was struggling to get away ; that when they reached the call box he noticed the officer “falling backward on the pavement.” He then noticed the appellant running down the street toward him and at the same time a passing taxi cab driver shouted, “Grab him,” which the witness promptly did and, with the aid of another individual, kept the appellant subdued until police arrived. The cab driver testified that he observed the appellant and the officer at the call box; saw the officer collapse while making the call; and saw the appellant running away. A police officer testified that he arrived at the call box in response to a radio call; found the arresting officer lying on the sidewalk and immediately called an ambulance. The officer was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead as a result of a heart attack which, according to a representative of the ⁴³⁸ medical examiner’s office, was due to natural causes and unrelated to the events involving the arrest of the appellant.

The officer searched the appellant and found two pairs of scissors in his coat pocket. Another officer testified that he found a table knife on the sidewalk under the arresting officer’s body. The appellant, who admitted numerous prior convictions, testified that at the time of his arrest he “was drunk”; that he remembered being arrested in the shop; that he remembered being at the call box when the officer collapsed and “I panicked and didn’t know exactly what to do. I got scared; I didn’t know what to do but run.” He also testified that “each time I get in trouble I been drinking.” He did not recollect taking the table knife.

In this appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence was legally insufficient to support his convictions. He argues (1) that “he was not acting in a disorderly manner”; (2) that “he does not remember resisting” the arresting officer; (3) that the evidence failed to show that he had the knife concealed upon his person or was carrying it openly with intent to injure any person. In our opinion these arguments are without substance. The appellant was convicted of