Cheney appealed his origional sentence of murder in 1979. Here is some of the text of the decision which denied that appeal, and a link to the entire decision.
------------------------------
Decided: June 7, 1979.
RICHARD MILES CHANEY
v.
STATE OF MARYLAND
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Calvert County; Bowen, J.
Moylan, Mason and MacDaniel, JJ. Moylan, J., delivered the opinion of the Court.
A criminal justice system, by its very nature, frequently involves the delicate balancing of competing interests. A society dedicated to human liberty must be ever vigilant that a suspect never be compelled to incriminate himself. That same society, legitimately concerned with protecting itself from its predators, must also be sensitive to the value of an admission or confession, properly obtained, as sometimes indispensable evidence of guilt. But for the confession in the case at bar, a brutal sexual assault and strangulation of a ten-year-old girl might have gone forever unredressed.
On December 6, 1971, ten-year-old Elizabeth Ann Metzler failed to return from school to her home in northern Anne Arundel County. On the next day, her lifeless body was found in the woods several miles from home. She had been sexually molested and strangled. Although suspicion centered on the appellant, Richard Miles Chaney, the evidence of guilt was not sufficient to bring charges. Instead of relegating this senseless murder to the dustbin of "unsolved crimes," the Anne Arundel County police bided their time and with patient diligence maintained the investigation. It ultimately bore fruit with the indictment of the appellant 5 1/2 years later. The appellant, following a removal, was ultimately found guilty by a Calvert County jury, presided over by Judge Perry G. Bowen, Jr., of murder in the first degree. Although bits and pieces of the case for the State were put together from a variety of sources over the course of the years, the capstone was the appellant's confession. The prime thrust of this appeal is his challenge to its admissibility. ...
...
Disposition
Judgment affirmed; costs to be paid by appellant.
LINK:
http://md.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19790607_0040215.MD.htm/qx