Warden of Baltimore City Jail v. Drabic

Prescott, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. On August 13, 1956, the appellee, Andrew Jackson Drabic, was convicted of the following motor vehicle offenses in the Traffic Court of Baltimore City and fined in the amounts stated, “fines to be consecutive”: Operating on instruction permit without licensed operator .................. $ 25.00 and costs Displaying license not his own ...... 100.00 and costs Reckless driving .................... 100.00 and costs Operating on fictitious tags .......... 100.00 and costs He was unable to pay the fines imposed and was committed to the Baltimore City Jail. The commitments stated, “committed consecutive”. After serving sixty days, the appellee filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Baltimore City Court.

The hearing thereon was held by one of the associate judges of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City and the appellee was ordered discharged. The appellant, Warden of the Baltimore City Jail, then made application for leave to appeal the order releasing the appellee, and it was granted by this Court. Article 38, section 4 of the Maryland Code (1951) makes provision for the confinement in jail for the non-payment of fines and costs. It reads as follows: “Any person who shall or may hereafter be committed to jail on any charge, including contempt of court, by the judgment of any court or by any Justice of the Peace of this State, for non-payment of any fine and costs, shall be confined one day for each dollar of fine and costs but in no event shall be confined more than thirty days for fine and costs amounting to One Hundred Dollars, nor more than sixty days for fine and costs exceeding One Hundred Dollars but not more than Five Hundred Dollars, nor more than ninety days for fine and costs exceeding Five Hundred Dollars.” (Emphasis supplied.) The appellee contends that under this -statute the above ⁴⁴¹ fines and costs should be totaled, which would amount to the sum of three hundred and twenty-five dollars, plus costs; and that this amount when applied to the statute authorized and commanded his release after he had served sixty days in jail, because it exceeded one hundred dollars, but did not exceed five hundred dollars.

He claims that it is significant that the word “any” is placed before the one dollar a day provision, but is omitted from the remainder of the statute. He argues that this omission was not inadvertent, but intentional, and manifested a legislative intention to require that the specified periods named in the statute shall be served for the aggregate of fines and costs, and