Appeals Court Upholds Worcester Burglary Verdict

BERLIN — A Maryland appeals court this month upheld the conviction of a Delaware man sentenced last year to five years for the break-in and robbery of an unoccupied Whaleyville residence.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals last week ruled in the appeal filed by Kevin Hocker, 30, of Dagsboro, upholding the appellant’s appeal of a Worcester County Circuit Court conviction last fall. Hocker was found guilty of first-degree burglary and theft last year and was sentenced to a combined 25 years, all but five of which was then suspended, but appealed the conviction on several grounds including the assertion there was no nexus between his possession of the stolen goods to the break-in.

The burglary occurred on Aug. 8, 2013, at a residence on Murray Rd. in Whaleyville. On that morning, the female victim locked her house and went to work a 12-hour shift. While at work, the victim received a call that her husband, who was a patient in a hospital in Baltimore, had gone into cardiac arrest. The victim left work and drove to Baltimore, but by the time she arrived, her husband had passed away.

More