Johnson v. State

The unrelated appeals of Ronald D. Johnson, Glen E. Grainger, Lionel Levon Cook and Gregory Hughley were consolidated for argument in this Court because all involved common questions of law. They will be the subjects of a single opinion.

All had been convicted and sentenced for unrelated offenses after bench trials in the Criminal Court of Baltimore. In each trial: (a) the accused was found guilty of a criminal offense; (b) the finding of guilt was stricken prior to sentence in order that the accused might be released on his initial bail pending preparation of a presentence report; (c) the…