Calhoun v. Eagan

• Decision Date: 01 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 1723,1723
• Citation: Calhoun v. Eagan, 681 A.2d 609, 111 Md.App. 362 (Md. App. 1995)
• Parties: John C. CALHOUN v. James K. EAGAN, Guardian of the Property and Next Friend of Laura M. Calhoun and Kevin J. Calhoun, Minors. ,
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Page 362

111 Md.App. 362

681 A.2d 609

John C. CALHOUN v. James K. EAGAN, Guardian of the Property and Next Friend of Laura M. Calhoun and Kevin J. Calhoun, Minors.

No. 1723, Sept. Term, 1995.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

Aug. 30, 1996.

Certiorari Granted Dec. 23, 1996.

Emile J. Henault, Jr., Glen Burnie, for Appellant.

Gary S. Peklo, Ellicott City, for Appellee.

Argued before HARRELL, HOLLANDER and EYLER, JJ.

HOLLANDER, Judge.

This case requires us to examine the doctrine of parent-child immunity, which has been part of the law of Maryland since 1930. See Warren v. Warren, 336 Md. 618, 622-28, 650 A.2d 252 (1994); Schneider v. Schneider, 160 Md. 18, 21-23, 152 A. 498 (1930). Generally, it proscribes parents and their unemancipated children from asserting civil claims against one another. The Court of Appeals has, however, recognized an exception to this doctrine, which allows a child to sue a parent for "cruel and inhuman treatment or for malicious and wanton wrongs." Mahnke v. Moore, 197 Md. 61, 68, 77 A.2d 923 (1951). That exception is central to this case.

In 1994, James K. Eagan, appellee, the court-appointed guardian of the property of two minor children, Laura M. Calhoun and Kevin J. Calhoun, filed a wrongful death action against John C. Calhoun, appellant, in the Circuit Court for Howard County. He alleged that appellant, the father of Laura and Kevin, deliberately or recklessly killed Gladys E. Calhoun, appellant's wife and the children's mother. Appellant contended that the action was barred by parent-child immunity. The circuit court disagreed, ruling that Calhoun's conduct fell within the Mahnke exception. Thereafter, a jury found in favor of the children and awarded them $2,360,000 in damages. The jury, however, was unable to reach a verdict on the issue of whether appellant's actions "were atrocious, show[ed] a complete abandonment of the parental relation, were intentional, were willful and were malicious." Nevertheless, the circuit court determined that this inability was of no consequence and entered judgment in favor of appellee.

Calhoun now appeals and presents two questions for our consideration:

I. Did the Court err by not enforcing the parent-child immunity law of the State of Maryland in favor of Appellant and in denying Appellant's Trial Motion for Summary Judgment and Motions for Directed Verdict?

II. Did the failure of the jury to reach a verdict on question 2 of the verdict sheet substantiate that Appellant's conduct was within the framework of parent-child immunity?

We conclude that it was a question for the jury as to whether appellant's conduct was cruel and inhuman or wanton and malicious, so as to fit within the Mahnke exception. Therefore, the circuit court erred in ruling upon the issue as a matter of law. Moreover, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on that critical issue. Therefore, we shall reverse the judgment and remand the case for a new trial.

FACTUAL SUMMARY ¹

John and Gladys Calhoun were married on June 15, 1974. The couple had two children: Laura, born on October 4, 1980 and Kevin, born on July 23, 1982. The Calhouns both worked for the National Security Agency ("NSA"). They experienced difficulties in the marriage; appellant conceded that he had an extramarital affair with a co-worker at the NSA, which family members knew about and Ms. Calhoun suspected.

The events at the center of this case occurred on May 13, 1992. That afternoon, the Calhouns decided to clean the gutters of their home. Appellant leaned a ladder against the side of the house, and Ms. Calhoun climbed the ladder as her husband held it. While his wife was on the ladder, Calhoun kicked it, causing her to fall to the ground. Appellant did not call 911 or otherwise attempt to summon help. In addition, although he had been trained in CPR, he did not attempt to help his wife. Instead, he washed, changed his clothes, and then drove to a hardware store to purchase joint compound. He then went to pick up Laura at her school, where he met with a teacher. An hour later, he picked up Kevin at his school. Thereafter, he drove his children home. After arriving at the house, he maneuvered his children away from the side of the house where their mother's body was lying. That evening, he took both his children to a softball game in which Laura participated.

At approximately 9 p.m. that evening, Laura called her aunt and uncle, Javier and Milagros Santiago. Mr. Santiago was Gladys Calhoun's brother. Laura was trying to find her mother and asked the Santiagos whether they knew where she was. Ms. Santiago responded that she did not know. At 10 p.m., Ms. Santiago called appellant and asked whether Ms. Calhoun was in the house. Calhoun responded that she was not. He also stated that her car was not at the house, but that her pocketbook was in the kitchen. Worried, the Santiagos decided to drive to the Calhoun residence, along with their sons, Yiloiz and Nell.

At 10:25 p.m., Calhoun called 911 and reported his wife missing. At approximately 10:30 p.m., he called Jennifer Calhoun Rydings, a daughter from a prior marriage, and told her he could not find his wife. He asked Rydings to come to the house, which Rydings agreed to do.

When the Santiagos arrived at the house at approximately 10:40 p.m., Mr. Santiago began asking questions about his sister's whereabouts. After seeing her keys, wallet, and driver's license in the kitchen, Mr. Santiago asked how her car could be gone. Calhoun responded that the car was "in the shop." Mr. Santiago asked for a flashlight in order to begin a search. He told Yiloiz, his sixteen-year-old son, to look in the living room and on the porch. When Yiloiz went to the porch, he saw his aunt's body on the ground.

Yiloiz immediately ran to the kitchen and alerted his mother, and then raced to the garage where his father and appellant were standing. Everyone went to the place where Ms. Calhoun's body was lying. Mr. Santiago touched Ms. Calhoun's legs and found them cold. After he checked for a pulse and found none, he directed his wife to call 911.

Rydings arrived at the house and encountered Yiloiz as he was running down the driveway to meet the ambulance. Yiloiz told her that something was "wrong" with Gladys. Still unsure of what was happening, Rydings drove to the house and ran through the front door. Ms. Santiago then led her to Ms. Calhoun's body. Rydings felt Ms. Calhoun's neck for a pulse and could not find any. She also found her body to be "very, very stiff." Later, Rydings saw her father begin to cry and fall to the ground. Rydings testified at trial that, at that point, "I got very angry because immediately I just knew he had something to do with this. I mean, I don't know how, I just knew and I was very angry, very angry."

Rydings telephoned her sister, Jacqueline Calhoun, another daughter from appellant's prior marriage, and told her what had happened. Jacqueline drove to her father's house and remained there until approximately 4 a.m.

Medical personnel arrived at the scene and pronounced Ms. Calhoun dead. Howard County police were dispatched to the house at 10:54 p.m. Officer T.R. Read examined Ms. Calhoun's body and observed a significant skull fracture and a large amount of dried blood on Ms. Calhoun's head and arms. He also saw two large dried blood stains on a blue plastic tarpaulin that was covering a stack of scaffolding behind Ms. Calhoun's body. In addition, he noted a small area of blood spatter on the tarpaulin, consistent with an impact area where Ms. Calhoun's head would have hit the tarpaulin.

Homicide detective Frank Dayhoff arrived at 11:39 p.m. and took charge of the investigation. At 12:30 a.m., Detective Dayhoff conducted the first of a series of interviews with appellant. Calhoun initially indicated that he did not know how his wife had died. He said that he had left his house between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. to purchase joint compound, then went to pick up his children at school, returned home at approximately 4:30 p.m., and then took his children to dinner and a softball game. He acknowledged that Gladys had suspected him of having an affair with a co-worker, but added that this was not true and Gladys's suspicions were "nonsense." He also stated that he and his wife had had a good relationship and had been rebuilding their marriage since March 1992. On May 21, 1992, eight days after his wife's death, Detective Dayhoff again interviewed appellant. Calhoun provided an account that was consistent with the one that he had first given.

On the night of June 6, 1992, Detective Dayhoff interviewed appellant for a third time. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Sam Bowerman. The detective confronted Calhoun with a note that one of his wife's co-workers had written. The co-worker stated that, about two weeks before her death, Ms. Calhoun had said, "If I die suddenly, it won't be an accident. You don't know what he is capable of doing." After reading the note, Calhoun became visibly shaken and pale. He then stated: "I kicked the ladder and she fell. It was all over a simple thing."

Appellant also provided Detective Dayhoff with the following information. He stated that he and Gladys were talking as she climbed the ladder; the conversation grew heated. According to the detective's testimony at trial, appellant related that his wife made a caustic remark "about something that had happened between them, something he had tried to do in Lancaster, PA a few weeks before." As this remark "challenged his manhood," appellant became angry at her because "she was right." Calhoun then kicked the ladder.

An autopsy was performed on Ms. Calhoun by Dr. Dennis Chute, an assistant medical examiner. Dr. Chute concluded that Ms. Calhoun had died from head injuries sustained in a fall from a ladder. He classified the death as a homicide.

In July 1992, appellant was arrested and charged with second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and reckless...