Treadway v. Warden of Maryland Penitentiary

PER Curiam. William M. Treadway (applicant) seeks leave to appeal from ⁶⁸¹ an order of the Circuit Court for Washington County (Rutledge, J.) denying relief under the Uniform Post Conviction Procedure Act. On March 19, 1965 the applicant, represented by court appointed counsel, entered a plea of guilty before Judge McLaughlin to the charge of armed robbery. He was originally sentenced to ten years in the Maryland Penitentiary, but his counsel was subsequently successful in having the sentence reduced to seven years.

The applicant raised four contentions in his petition for post conviction relief: 1) That he was illegally indicted because members of the grand jury were unconstitutionally required to profess a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being as a condition precedent to service on that panel; 2) That his court appointed attorney was incompetent and had failed to advise him of the nature of his guilty plea; 3) That he was illegally arrested; and 4) That he was held incommunicado after his arrest, he was denied assistance of counsel during that period, and while being held by the police he confessed to the crime of which he was charged. The applicant’s first contention, though raised in his petition for post conviction relief, was not ruled on by the trial court. It can be summarily disposed of, however, here in this Court. The applicant’s conviction became final before October 11, 1965, the date Schowgurow v. State, 240 Md. 121 , 213 A. 2d 475 (1965) was decided.

Relief, therefore, which would be