Summary
In Jones v. State, 237 Md. 628, a case involving the burning of a dwelling house, the corpus delicti was established by evidence showing that gasoline had been poured under the door of the house, together with expert testimony that the fire had been caused by the use of a "flammable agent.
Summary of this case from Hughes v. StateOpinion
[No. 164, September Term, 1964.]
Decided February 2, 1965.
ARSON — Evidence Was Sufficient To Convict. p. 629
H.C.
Decided February 2, 1965.
Appeal from the Criminal Court of Baltimore (PRENDERGAST, J.).
Remus Lee Jones was convicted in a non-jury trial of arson and from the judgment entered thereon, he appealed.
Judgment affirmed.
The cause was submitted on the brief to PRESCOTT, C.J., and HAMMOND, HORNEY and SYBERT, JJ., and KEATING, J., Associate Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, specially assigned.
Submitted by Harvey N. Zimmerman for appellant.
Submitted by Thomas B. Finan, Attorney General, Fred Oken, Assistant Attorney General, Charles E. Moylan, Jr. and Richard O. Motsay, State's Attorney and Assistant State's Attorney, respectively, for Baltimore City, for appellee.
Insufficiency of the evidence is the only issue raised by the appellant, Remus Lee Jones, in this appeal following his conviction of arson by Judge Prendergast sitting in the Criminal Court of Baltimore without a jury.
Evidence produced by the State showed that appellant and Virginia Pinchback separated after having lived together for several years. On the same day the woman resumed a prior cohabitation with one Willie Robinson in an apartment some distance away. The appellant went there the next morning but was refused admittance by the woman. Late that night the occupants of the apartment saw a liquid flowing under their door which "smelled like gasoline", and then it exploded and the door burst into flames. A tenant who had known the appellant a long time testified that he saw Jones running down the stairs of the building just after he heard the explosion and saw the flames. To be sure of identification, he went to a window and saw the appellant running from the building and across the street. A captain of the Baltimore Fire Department's fire investigation bureau testified that, based on his experience and training, the fire had been caused by the use of a "flammable agent". Obviously, the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction.
Judgment affirmed.