Topp v. Superintendent of Maryland Reformatory for Males

Bruñe, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The applicant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which was based upon the two grounds stated below, was denied by Judge Cullen, sitting in the Baltimore City Court, and the applicant seeks leave to appeal. The grounds upon which the writ was sought were: (1) that at his trial evidence was admitted of a statement which the applicant says was obtained from him by the police as a result of mistreatment, including detention for an unwarranted length of time before he was brought before a magistrate; and (2) that at the trial a co-defendant was permitted to testify after having admitted that he had lied previously in connection with the same case. In his brief in support of his application for leave to appeal, the applicant seeks to add to his claim with regard to his detention that he was entitled to the benefit of the laws relating to juvenile delinquents, but his brief shows that he was above the age at which he would have, been within juvenile court jurisdiction in the City of Baltimore.

He also seeks by his brief in this Court to add to his grounds for seeking the writ the claim that his court-appointed counsel was incompetent. A bare allegation to this effect has frequently been held by this Court not to be a sufficient basis for the issuance of a writ; but it is not properly before