GIROUARD V. STATE 321 Md. 532, 583 A.2d 718 (1991) CASE BRIEF

GIROUARD V. STATE

321 Md. 532, 583 A.2d 718 (1991)

NATURE OF THE CASE: Girouard (D) challenged his conviction which was affirmed by the Court of Special Appeals for second degree murder, asking the court to consider whether the provocation sufficient to mitigate murder to manslaughter should be decided by the factfinder on a case-by-case basis and, specifically, whether words alone were adequate provocation under the circumstances.

FACTS: Girouard (D), and the deceased, Joyce, had been married for about two months on October 28, 1987, the night of Joyce's death. Both parties were in the army. They married after having known each other for approximately three months. The marriage was often tense and strained, and there was some evidence that after marrying Steven, Joyce had resumed a relationship with her old boyfriend, Wayne. D overheard her talking on the telephone to her friend, whereupon she told the friend that she had asked her first sergeant for a hardship discharge because her husband did not love her anymore. D went into the living room where Joyce was on the phone and asked her what she meant by her comments; she responded, 'nothing.' Angered by her lack of response, D kicked away the plate of food Joyce had in front of her. He then went to lie down in the bedroom. Joyce followed him into the bedroom and proceeded to tell D that he was a lousy fuck and D reminded her of her dad. She wanted a divorce and told D that the marriage had been a mistake and that she had never wanted to marry him. She also told him she had seen his commanding officer and filed charges against him for abuse. She asked D, 'What are you going to do?' Receiving no response, she continued her verbal attack. She added that she had filed charges against him in the Judge Advocate General's Office (JAG) and that he would probably be court-martialed. D asked her if she had really done all those things, and she responded in the affirmative. He left the bedroom and procured a long handled kitchen knife. He returned to Joyce in the bedroom with the knife behind the pillow. He testified that he was enraged and that he kept waiting for Joyce to say she was kidding. Eventually when Joyce asked D was he was going to do, he took the kitchen knife he had hidden behind the pillow and stab her 19 times. D went to the bathroom to shower off Joyce's blood. D went back to the kitchen and found two steak knives with which he slit his own wrists. He lay down on the bed waiting to die, but when he realized that he would not die from his self-inflicted wounds, he got up and called the police, telling the dispatcher that he had just murdered his wife. D was despondent and tearful and seemed detached, according to police officers who had been at the scene. He was unconcerned about his own wounds, talking only about how much he loved his wife and how he could not believe what he had done. Joyce was pronounced dead at the scene. D was sentenced to 22 years incarceration, 10 of which were suspended. D appealed.

ISSUE:

RULE OF LAW:

HOLDING AND DECISION:

LEGAL ANALYSIS:

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