Girouard v. Maryland

Facts

The defendant and the deceased, Joyce M. Girouard, had been married for about two months when she was killed. They married after having known each other for approximately three months. The evidence at trial indicated that the marriage was often tense and strained, and there was some evidence that after marrying the defendant, Joyce had resumed a relationship with her old boyfriend, Wayne.

On the night of Joyce’s death, the defendant 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. Defendant 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, he 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, stepped up onto the bed and onto his back, pulled his hair and said, “What are you going to do, hit me?” She continued to taunt him by saying, “I never did want to marry you and you are a lousy fuck and you remind me of my dad.” She told him that she wanted a divorce, 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.

When she was through, defendant asked her if she had really done all those things, and she responded in the affirmative. He left the bedroom with his pillow in his arms and proceeded to the kitchen where he 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, but Joyce continued talking. She said she had learned a lot from the marriage and that it had been a mistake. She also told him she would remain in their apartment after he moved out. When he questioned how she would afford it, she told him she would claim her brain-damaged sister as a dependent and have the sister move in. Joyce reiterated that the marriage was a big mistake, that she did not love him and that the divorce would be better for her.

After pausing for a moment, Joyce asked what him was going to do. What he did was lunge at her with the kitchen knife he had hidden behind the pillow and stab her 19 times. He was convicted of murder.

He appealed, arguing that he should have been convicted of manslaughter instead.