Vitek v. State

Murphy, C. J., and Smith, J., dissent. Murphy, C. J., filed a dissenting opinion at page 46 infra, in which Smith, J., joins.

In June, 1981, Donald Gilbert Vitek, Jr., the appellant, after being tried by a jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, was convicted of robbery and sentenced to ten years imprisonment with four years suspended. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the judgment in an unreported per curiam opinion. The appellant petitioned for certiorari to this Court, and we granted the writ to consider an important issue of public interest.

The issue in this case is…