Smith v. State

ELDRIDGE, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether the trial court erred in denying the petitioner’s request to have the jury instructed on alibi after the petitioner testified at trial that he “was in Texas at the time the crimes were committed” in Maryland. We hold that the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury on alibi constituted error, and we therefore reverse.

The petitioner, Rodney Lorenzo Smith, was charged in an eight count indictment with armed robbery and related offenses arising out of the August 30, 1981, robbery of a desk clerk at a Holiday Inn. On May 15, 1982, Smith was…