Watkins v. State

PER Curiam. Appellant, Dorothy Watkins, complains of her conviction in the Criminal Court of Baltimore by Judge Charles D. Harris, ⁴⁹ sitting without a jury, of the crime of robbery. Upon her conviction, she was sentenced to not more than eight years in the Correctional Institution for Women. She appeals from the judgment.

The testimony as set forth in the record discloses that the prosecuting witness, Henry Fagan, spent the evening of February 24, 1967, and the early hours of February 25th, at Buddy Brooks’ Bar, dancing and drinking with the appellant, Dorothy Watkins. After the band stopped playing around 1:00 a.m., appellant invited Fagan to her home for some drinks. He agreed and as they started for his car, she asked him to wait while she got some soda for her kids. When she returned, she was accompanied by a man she introduced as her “brother.” She asked if she could bring him along, to which Fagan consented.

When the three arrived at appellant’s house, Fagan went upstairs to the bathroom, while appellant prepared the drinks. On his return to the living room, he was assaulted by both appellant’s “brother” and appellant. The “brother,” who was armed with a metal pipe, struck him repeatedly about the head, while appellant moved a Hi-Fi by the door to block his escape and assisted her “brother” by grabbing Fagan and taking his wallet containing $119.00 from his pocket. Bleeding profusely, Fagan finally made his escape and returned to the bar where he told his story to the police.

Officers Barrick and Eckert accompanied by Fagan returned to appellant’s apartment. There they found blood on the floor and appellant attempting to clean up the blood spots with a bucket of water and a broom. Fagan’s empty wallet was found on the floor and a brown paper bag, containing Fagan’s identification card, license and other papers, was found on the television set. The “brother” had disappeared and could not be found.

Fagan suffered a broken left arm and severe head injuries and was taken to the hospital. His money was never recovered. I Appellant’s first contention on appeal is that the court erred in allowing the State to amend the indictment. Prior to the taking of testimony, the assistant State’s attorney made an oral request to the court to be permitted to amend the date of the crime set forth in the indictment from February ⁵⁰ 2, 1967, to February 25, 1967, the correct date of the alleged offense.

He told the court that the offense report carried the date of February 25, 1967, and that the February 2, 1967 date must have been a clerical error. Appellant’s counsel objected to the amendment, although he admitted that he had access to the State’s information and was not deceived as to the correct date. He did not request a continuance and the court, being