Bennett v. State

We hold that in a criminal prosecution by the State of Maryland the constitutional rights to due process of law 1 are not violated by placing upon the defendant the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence his assertion that a witness offered against him is an accomplice. 2

I

Foster Elwood Bennett was convicted in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County of robbery with a deadly weapon and the use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment of eight years and five years, respectively, to begin at the expiration of a sentence he was…