Combs v. State

This is an appeal by Edward Combs from a judgment and sentence of life imprisonment for rape, imposed by Chief Judge Day in the Circuit Court for Harford County, who sat without a jury.

On Monday evening, February 18, 1963, a fifty-six year old woman was assaulted and raped in the rear yard of her home in Harford County. She told police that at approximately 9:30 p.m. she heard the back doorbell and proceeded through the kitchen into the hall. As she passed through the hall, someone grabbed her from behind and yanked her off her feet onto the floor of the back porch. A struggle ensued, the…