Swann v. State

Thompson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. John Cordell Swann, the appellant, was convicted of assault with intent to murder in a jury trial in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Judge Ralph W. Powers presiding. Swann, who was sentenced to a term of fifteen years, now asks: “1. Should the defendant’s conviction be vitiated because of lack of proper jurisdiction over the defendant; “2.

Should indigent accused, represented by assigned counsel, be bound by counsel’s statements, objections, or failures to object at trial; “3. Should the Court have permitted the defendant to be cross-examined by the prosecutor as to a prior unrelated housebreaking conviction.” 1 On July 6, 1968 at about 3:45 A.M., Pauline Hawkins stepped out of the rear of Jiffy Carry Out Shop, where she was employed, to dispose of some dirty linen when she was confronted by Swann who shot her. About a month before the shooting, Swann, posing as a janitor, had gained entrance into Hawkins’ apartment and raped her. On cross-examination, she testified that she felt that Swann had shot her to keep her from testifying in the rape case.

Jurisdiction Swann was apprehended in the District of Columbia by District policemen and returned to Prince George’s ³¹¹ County by Prince George’s detectives. Swann contends that since he was improperly returned to Maryland, the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County lacked the necessary jurisdiction to try him. The Supreme Court of the United States held in Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U. S. 519, 522 , 72 S. Ct. 509, 511 , 96 L. Ed. 541 , reh. denied 343 U. S. 937 , 72 S. Ct. 768 , 96 L. Ed. 1344 that: “This Court has never departed from the rule announced in Ker v. Illinois, 119 U. S. 436, 444 , 7 S. Ct. 225, 229 , 30 L. Ed. 421 , that