William Ralph v. Warden, Maryland Penitentiary

BUTZNER, Circuit Judge:

William Ralph, convicted of rape in 1961 by a three-judge court sitting without a jury, was sentenced to death. He appeals the district court’s dismissal of his habeas corpus petition in which he challenged the constitutionality of his death sentence and the adequacy of the trial court’s finding that his confession was voluntary. We hold that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment forbids Ralph’s execution for rape since his victim’s life was neither taken nor endangered, but we find no merit in Ralph’s assignment of error concerning his…