Wentworth v. State

The appellant, Ann Louise Wentworth, was convicted in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County by a jury, presided over by Judges C. Burnam Mace and Charles E. Edmondson, of murder in the second degree, of kidnapping and of two counts of armed robbery. The case had been removed for trial from Somerset County to Dorchester County. The appellant raises three contentions:

1) That an improper jury instruction was given contravening her right to due process as set out in Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U. S. 684, 95 S. Ct. 1881, 44 L.Ed.2d 508 (1975);

2) That the evidence was legally insufficient to permit…