State v. Martin2/17/1993
Opinion BY Bell, J.
Eldridge, J. dissents.
John Kenneth Martin, the respondent, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County of first degree murder and carrying a weapon with intent to injure. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of life and three years imprisonment.
During the trial, the respondent produced evidence tending to prove that he had an alcohol problem, often resulting in memory lapses, and that, on that night, he was so intoxicated that he did not remember any of the events, either immediately prior to or after the homicide. The respondent also presented expert testimony that it was possible that he had a memory loss and that he might well have experienced a condition called "explosive rage syndrome." The trial court refused the respondent's request that the jury be instructed on imperfect self-defense, finding that the issue was not generated.
On appeal, a divided panel of the Court of Special Appeals, in an unreported opinion, affirmed the weapon conviction, but reversed the first degree murder conviction. The majority held that, notwithstanding his lack of memory, the evidence of the circumstances of the homicide, coupled with
the expert's testimony, were sufficient to permit the jury to infer that the respondent acted in imperfect self-defense. We granted the State's petition for certiorari to consider under what circumstances imperfect self-defense may be generated by evidence other than the defendant's testimony.
I.
Considered in the light most favorable to the respondent, see Wilson v. State, 319 Md. 530, 535, 573 A.2d 831, 833 (1990); West v. State, 312 Md. 197, 207, 539 A.2d 231, 236 (1988); Bloodsworth v. State, 307 Md. 164, 167, 512 A.2d 1056, 1057 (1986); Dixon v. State, 302 Md. 447, 450, 488 A.2d 962, 963 (1985); Tichnell v. State, 287 Md. 695, 717, 415 A.2d 830, 842 (1980) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573 (1979)), the evidence bearing on the issue was as follows. The respondent and Wayne Gordy, the victim, were among a "bunch of guys" sitting around talking "behind Cooper's Market, beside the school" in Willards. The respondent and Gordy were arguing. After five to ten minutes, Gordy ordered the respondent to, "go on and get out of there and don't come back unless I tell you you can" and that "this time would be different, it would be me kicking your ass all across this parking lot." Gordy followed the respondent briefly as he walked towards his truck.
Sometime later, when the victim and a friend, who had driven around for a while, returned to that general location, the respondent was seated in his car near the school. Gordy told his friend that he was going to walk over and see what the respondent was doing there. Gordy left the
car carrying a beer cup in one hand and "a party ball" in the other. His friend had also gotten out of the car and was coming around the front of a parked truck when he heard a gunshot. He turned and saw the victim falling and the respondents car taking off.
The respondent's car was discovered about three quarters of a mile from the scene of the shooting. The keys were still in the ignition and a shotgun shell was on the floor of the driver's side. A spent shell, and one other, were found on the ground outside the car. The respondent's property was searched. A shotgun was recovered from a wooded area in the back of t
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