 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Brown v. State6/9/2000
him why and where and he said that . . . he did it because I always harassed him about her and he told her that she would always be around, she wouldn't leave him alone and she wasn't going anywhere so he killed her and then I asked him, well, where, he wouldn't tell me. I said well, where's your gun? He wouldn't tell me. And then I asked him how and he wouldn't tell me. He said the less I knew the better it was for him and I told him that he was going to jail and he said I know, and that was it."
Ms. Brown recounted two additional conversations. Later that evening, they learned from television news that two bodies had been found, "and I asked if one of them was her and he said yes. I said which one, he wouldn't tell me." At some point during the next five days, Ms. Brown put petitioner out of the apartment. After petitioner was arrested, Ms. Brown said that she and petitioner talked about the murder on several occasions:
" n one visit I asked him if she cried and he told me he didn't know and he told me what happened and that he was scared and when she turned to walk away he started shooting and he couldn't stop, and that was it. And then I asked him over the phone if he ever thought about her and he said only different ways that it could have been done, referring to how she died."
At the conclusion of Ms. Brown's testimony, petitioner, for the first time, called the court's attention to § 9-105, arguing that, until the statement was "blurted out," there was no occasion to raise the confidentiality issue. Although initially admonishing counsel for not having raised that objection earlier, the court was eventually convinced that " his is a competency issue" - not a privilege - and that, because the defense was previously unaware of the admission, it could be excused for not having raised the issue earlier. It therefore instructed the jury that the testimony was stricken. Following further discussion at a later point in the trial, however, the court reconsidered that ruling. Relying on Harris v. State, 37 Md. App. 180, 376 A.2d 1144 (1977), in which the Court of Special Appeals held that the exclusionary provision of § 9-105 did not apply when the confidential communication "constitutes a threat or crime against the other spouse," id. at 184, 376 A.2d at 1146, the court ultimately concluded that, by accusing Ms. Brown of having committed the murder, he put her at risk and could not invoke § 9-105 to preclude her from replying to that accusation. The court then informed the jury that it had reconsidered its ruling and that Ms. Brown's testimony as to "his confession, virtually of the murder" was "unstricken" and "back in the case." Petitioner testified in his defense. He denied confessing to his wife that he had killed Makea Stewart and denied as well ever having indicated to her that he knew anything about Ms. Stewart's death.
DISCUSSION
Section 9-105: Competence or Privilege?
Petitioner's argument is straightforward and is based on a strict and literal construction of the word "competent," as used in the statute. He reminds us that § 9-105 declares a spouse "not competent" to disclose certain communications. "Not competent," he posits, means what it says - not competent, legally unqualified to testify to the matter. When a person is declared "not competent," he urges, there are no exceptions to the disqualification; there is no doctrine of waiver. No action or inaction by the person, by the person's spouse, or by anyone else can overcome the legal disqualification.
The State does not disagree with petitioner's description of true incompetence but argues that that is not what the General Assembly intended when it enacted § 9-10
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|