Barger v. Maryland

Leslie Barger, the appellant, appeals from a conviction of murder in the second degree in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Judge Ralph W. Powers presiding with a jury. Barger was originally indicted on April 19, 1963, for murder. He was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to sixteen years. The Court of Appeals of Maryland reversed the judgment and remanded the case for a new trial because of an error in the instructions concerning the law of self-defense, Barger v. State, 235 Md. 556, 202 A.2d 344. Later in the case of State v. Barger, 242 Md. 616, 220 A.2d 304, the Court of Appeals of Maryland ruled that since he had been acquitted of murder in the first degree at the first trial, he could not thereafter be tried on that charge. The present appeal concerns the last trial when he was again convicted of murder in the second degree and was again sentenced to serve sixteen years. Since the errors alleged concern rulings on evidence and alleged misconduct of the State's Attorney, it will not be necessary to give a complete statement of facts. The evidence was, however, substantially the same as that produced at the first trial and a complete statement of facts are set out in Barger v. State, supra.