Rath v. Maryland

William George Gowans was working at the Hudson Service Station about 4:30 A. M. on June 13, 1962. A black Chevrolet containing a driver and a passenger pulled in the driveway. The driver asked for $2.00 worth of gasoline and requested that the oil be checked. After the gasoline and two quarts of oil were put in the car Gowans asked the driver for payment and was told the passenger had the money. As he walked around the car to the passenger, the passenger opened the car door. "He had a .22 pistol in his hand" and said, "This is a stick-up." He demanded the money Gowans had in his pockets, $41.00 and some change, and asked if there was any money in the station. The driver went into the station and found a black box containing $100. He brought the box out and the passenger forced Gowans at gun point to get in the back of the car, threatening to shoot him if he did not obey. They drove about 4 miles on route 40 and then 1 1/2 miles up a side road where they stopped. Gowans was ordered out of the car and told to lie face down. He did so and was struck on the back of the head. One of the men rolled him over, said, "Hes out," and the robbers departed in the car. Gowans went to the first house down the road and called the police. The driver was "white, had a mustache, thick rimmed glasses, about five ten, weighed about 140 pounds. He had denim trousers on and a denim jacket and had black wavy hair." He was in his "early twenties." The passenger was "white, about five eight, a little bit shorter and a little bit heavier than the driver, and he was younger and he had no glasses or no mustache and he was dressed in a gray outfit." He had "dark curly hair." As a result of a teletype description of the robbers sent out by the police, the Maryland State Police received information that three men were being held at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, two of whom answered the description of the robbers. An officer went to Greensburg on June 24, 1962 and interviewed the men in custody. The appellants were presented and indicted for the robbery of Gowans on April 3,