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Williams v. Maryland12/5/1988
Two outstanding authorities on the common law, Sir Edward Coke and Sir Matthew Hale disagree as to whether
a child born alive but who dies as a result of an injury sustained in utero is a homicide victim. In this case we are called upon to decide which of those distinguished legal scholars Maryland should follow. Our course shall determine whether Andre Williams is guilty of manslaughter of a newborn infant or not guilty of any offense insofar as the infant is concerned.
Before beginning our discussion of the law, we shall briefly recount the eldritch facts of the matter.
The Facts
As he returned home from his place of employment, Williams encountered Lamont Jones who wanted Williams to engage with him in fisticuffs. Jones was angry because Williams refused to surrender a photograph which allegedly depicted Williams engaged in a sexual activity with Jones's girlfriend. In an attempt to gain possession of the photograph, Jones took Williams's wallet and ran. Williams then entered his home and called the police. Shortly thereafter, an intermediary, an acquaintance of both Jones and Williams, endeavored to return the wallet to Williams, but the latter refused to accept it.
When Williams went out of his home, he saw Jones approaching, carrying a lead pipe. Jones swung three times at Williams with the pipe. Williams retreated into his house. When he reemerged, he was armed with a bow and arrow. He drew the arrow as he ran to the street corner. Williams testified that he had "cooled-off"; but when he maladroitly attempted to release the tension on the drawn arrow, it discharged and penetrated the body of a passerby, Jewel Lyles.
The police arrived to find Ms. Lyles lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. Williams, who remained at the scene, told police that he had shot her with the arrow.
Lyles was nine months pregnant at the time of the incident. She was rushed to the emergency room of Johns Hopkins Hospital where it was determined that the arrow lacerated her vena cava. Resuscitative efforts proved unsuccessful, and the baby was delivered by caesarean section. Ms. Lyles died from the massive loss of blood she sustained as a result of the wounding. The baby survived her for seventeen hours, but it too expired from the injury it received in utero, the result, we think, of "the . . . arrows of outrageous fortune." The infant's death was due to a lack of oxygen to the fetus which in turn was caused by the mother's massive loss of blood.
Andre Williams was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City (Bothe, J.) of two counts of manslaughter and one count of carrying a weapon openly with intent to injure. He was sentenced to consecutive terms totaling twenty-three years imprisonment.
Williams raises a pentad of issues for our review, namely:
I. May appellant be convicted of manslaughter of an infant born alive but who because of appellant's actions sustained a fatal injury in utero ?
II. Did the trial court err in refusing to propound certain proposed voir dire questions?
III. Did the trial court err in refusing to grant defendant's instruction concerning the deadly weapons offense?
IV. Was the jury improperly instructed with respect to the defenses of accident and abandonment of criminal intent?
V. Were the sentences based on improper considerations?
{PA}
Page 416} The Law
The Maryland Constitution, Declaration of Rights, Article V, provides:
"That the Inhabitants of Maryland are entitled to the Common Law of England, and the trial by Jury, acc
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