Washington v. Warden

Per Curiam. Ernest Lee Washington (applicant) was convicted in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County on April 8, 1958, of assault with intent to rob with a deadly weapon and sentenced to five years in the House of Correction. An appeal to ⁶²⁴ this Court was noted by applicant on April 16, 1958, but this appeal was dismissed by him on February 1, 1960. On September 3, 1959, applicant filed his first petition for review under the Post Conviction Procedure Act.

On November 18, 1959, he submitted a new petition which was docketed by the Clerk of the Circuit Court as an amended petition. At a hearing on this petition on December 21, 1959, the applicant was represented by a court-appointed attorney. Leave was granted at this time by the court, at the attorney’s request, for the filing of a second amended petition. However, at a subsequent hearing on March 11, 1960, the attorney advised the trial court that he would not file a second amended petition and that the applicant would proceed on the basis of his first amended petition filed on November 18, 1959.

After a hearing, the petition for relief was denied. In his application to this Court the applicant indicates that he is noting a “direct appeal”, although the Post Conviction Procedure Act (Art. 27, § 645-1, Code [1960 Cum. Supp.]) permits only an application for leave to prosecute an appeal from the order of the lower court. However, we shall treat the application as one properly filed under the act to seek leave to appeal.

The application, prepared by the applicant himself, does not set out