Bradford v. State

⁵¹⁵ Henderson, J., filed the following dissenting opinion, in which Sybert, J., concurred. The majority opinion in this case decides a point, left open in previous opinions, in a manner that I believe to be unwise, and I must respectfully dissent. The most that can be said of the evidence presented by the appellant in support of his plea of insanity at the time of the commission of the alleged offense, is that it showed that one or two of the younger psychiatrists upon the staff at Perkins differed from the senior psychiatrists and other staff members, and felt that the accused was probably insane under the M’Naghten test. Even this testimony was somewhat shaken by the fact that Dr. Gregory, the only witness called by the appellant, stated his belief that the accused was “unable to distinguish right from wrong and adhere to the right.” (Italics supplied) This suggests “irresistible impulse,” a defense not open under the M’Naghten test, but I find no basis for the statement in the majority opinion that the trial court did not consider his testimony.

Indeed, Judge Grady carefully analyzed it, although rejecting it in the end. Dr. Prado, called by the State, testified that the accused was not medically or legally insane. I am unable to- conclude that the judgment of the trial court was clearly erroneous under Rules 886, and 772. Under Rule 742 the trial court may render its verdict without comment, and it does not appear that any question as to the burden of proof was raised or decided in the court below as required by Rule 885.

My chief objection, however, is tO' the holding that upon the presentation of evidence tending to show insanity the burden of proving sanity shifted to the State, to be established beyond a reasonable doubt. To my mind the opinion misreads Lipscomb v. State, 223 Md. 599, 604 . In that case Chief Judge Brune, for the Court, stated that a person is presumed sane “until sufficient proof of his insanity is introduced to raise a question in the minds of reasonable men as to whether he is or is not sane.” If the defense does not produce evidence legally sufficient to establish insanity, the issue should be withdrawn from the jury. O’Connor v. State, 234 Md. 459 , and cases cited.

But it does not follow that wherever sufficient evidence is produced ⁵¹⁶ to overcome the presumption, the burden shifts to the State. In Lipscomb Chief Judge Brune said that once the presumption of sanity is overcome “a further question then arises, on which there is a division of authority, as to whether the defendant must go forward and prove his insanity by a preponderance of the evidence, or whether the State must then offer proof to establish the defendant’s sanity beyond a reasonable doubt.” Because the “threshhold” question was not raised, “the problem of determining which party must bear the burden of proof on the insanity issue is not reached * * If we must here make a choice, I am in favor of the view that requires the accused to establish insanity by a fair preponderance of the evidence. In 9 Wigmore, Evidence (3rd ed.), sec. 2501, the learned author states that three different rules have found vogue. He describes the third in the following language: “(3) But another view, based on judicial experience in dealing with the issue of insanity in criminal trials, and adopted by an increasing number of Courts, is that the accused has the burden of proving insanity, in the sense that he has the risk of persuading the jury to that effect, at least by a preponderance of evidence, and also, of course, has the duty of producing evidence.” In support of the third view, the preeminent author quotes from the opinion of Douglas, J. in State v. Quigley, 26 R. I. 263, 58 Atl. 905 , which he characterizes as “good”: “The question was settled in England in 1843 by the answer of the judges to questions propounded by the House of Lords, suggested by the case of Daniel M’Naghten, reported in 10 Cl. & Fin. 200.

In that case the law was said to be: ‘That if the accused was conscious that the act was one which he ought not to do; and if the act was at the same time contrary to law, he is punishable. In all cases of this kind the jurors ought to be told that every man is presumed to be sane and to possess a sufficient degree of reason to be responsible for his crime until the contrary be proved to their satisfaction; and that to establish a defence on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that at the time of committing the act the party ⁵¹⁷ was laboring under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing or as not to know that what he was doing was wrong.’ “The question has arisen in almost every State of the Union, and in the courts of the United States, and between the decisions of these courts there is a hopeless conflict. “It would be a fruitless task to review in detail the cases where the question has been considered, for they are divided into two classes which follow substantially the same two divergent lines of reasoning. “The English rule implies that the question of guilt and the question of insanity raise two distinct issues, and that while both may be involved in the final verdict, the burden of proof upon each issue lies upon different parties. The most complete and forcible statement of the argument in support, of this rule which we have found is contained in the opinion of Judge Danforth in State v. Lawrence, 57 Me. 574, 581 . “The American rule, so-called, holds that in a criminal case there is but one issue and that the burden throughout is upon the prosecution to prove, not only the criminal act, but the capacity of the accused to commit it beyond a reasonable doubt. “We think the first of these positions is the more logical. Sanity is not an ingredient of crime.

It is a condition precedent of all intelligent action, as well benevolent as nefarious. It is a quality of the actor, not an element of the act. It is incumbent upon the prosecution to show the commission of the act, and from this showing and its circumstances to sustain the inferences of malice and such emotions as the particular crime may include. But sanity is not one of these inferences.

It is a pre-existing fact which may be taken for granted as implied by law and general experience. * * *. ⁵¹⁸ “It is argued that criminal intent, malice, and