Girouard v. State

Facts

The petitioner and his wife, Joyce, had a marriage that was often tense, and there was some evidence that after marrying, Joyce had resumed a relationship with her old boyfriend, Wayne.

One night, the petitioner overheard her talking on the telephone to her friend, where she said her husband didn’t love her anymore. He asked her what she meant by her comments and she told him nothing. The petitioner got angry by this and kicked the plate of food Joyce had in front of her. He then went to lie down in the bedroom, where Joyce followed and stepped up onto the bed and onto his back. She pulled his hair and said, “What are you going to do, hit me?” She told him that she never wanted to marry him and insulted him further.

When she was done, the petitioner left the bedroom and got a knife. He returned to Joyce in the bedroom with the knife behind a pillow, and Joyce continued to insult him and she reiterated that the marriage was a big mistake, that she did not love him and that the divorce would be better for her. The petitioner then stabbed her 19 times. Realizing what he had done, he dropped the knife and tried to kill himself. When he realized he wasn’t going to die, he called police and told them that he murdered his wife.

The petitioner was convicted of second degree murder. He appealed, arguing that he should have been convicted of manslaughterinstead.