Opinion
[No. 310, September Term, 1961.]
Decided June 14, 1962.
EVIDENCE — Criminal Law — Accomplices — Corroboration Found. In this criminal prosecution, the defendant contended that he was convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice but the Court found there was ample evidence to corroborate the accomplice's testimony, so as to support the conviction. p. 102
CRIMINAL LAW — Indictment Charging Second Offense — Not Necessary To Sever Indictment. In this prosecution for a violation of the narcotic laws and for being a second offender, defendant requested the court to sever the indictment by presenting to the jury only the question of the present offense and excluding from the jury's consideration the issue of the second offense. The Court sustained the court's refusal of this request but called attention to Maryland Rule 713, effective as of January 1, 1962. pp. 102-103 Decided June 14, 1962.
Appeal from the Criminal Court of Baltimore (CARTER, J.).
John Ace Miller was convicted of a violation of the narcotic laws and being a second offender and he appeals.
Judgment affirmed.
The cause was submitted to BRUNE, C.J., and PRESCOTT, HORNEY, MARBURY and SYBERT, JJ.
Submitted on the brief by Herbert B. Mullter and Carl Seif, for appellant.
Submitted on the brief by Thomas B. Finan, Attorney General, Joseph S. Kaufman, Deputy Attorney General, Saul A. Harris, James W. Murphy and John W. Sause, Jr., State's Attorney and Assistant State's Attorneys, respectively, for Baltimore City, for appellee.
Appellant was convicted in the Criminal Court of Baltimore, by a jury, of unlawfully attempting to obtain a narcotic drug by the use of a false name and address (Code [1957], Article 27, § 295); and, under another count in the indictment, of being a second offender (Article 27, § 300).
There is little merit in the appeal. The appellant first contends that he was convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. If we assume, without deciding, that the State's witness Noel was an accomplice, there was ample evidence to corroborate his testimony, so as to support the conviction. Novak v. State, 214 Md. 472, 136 A.2d 256; Wright v. State, 219 Md. 643, 150 A.2d 733; Campbell v. State, 221 Md. 80, 156 A.2d 217.
The appellant, in effect, requested the court to sever the indictment by presenting to the jury only the question of the present offense and excluding from the jury's consideration the issue of whether he was a second offender. This question has been flatly passed upon by this Court in several recent cases. Beard v. State, 216 Md. 302, 140 A.2d 672; McCoy v. State, 216 Md. 332, 140 A.2d 689; Toyer v. State, 220 Md. 205, 151 A.2d 730. For the reasons given in the opinions of these cases, we find no error here. (However, see Maryland Rule 713, effective as of January 1, 1962.)
At the conclusion of the testimony, appellant's attorney made certain oral requests to the court for instructions to the jury. They not only did not comply with Rule 739 (1958 ed.), but it is difficult to discover, with any degree of accuracy, just what the requests anticipated. We have examined the court's charge to the jury, and it fairly presented to the jury the issues involved.
Judgment affirmed.