Porter v. State
| Decision Date | 07 August 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 88,88 |
| Parties | KARLA LOUISE PORTER v. STATE OF MARYLAND |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
HOMICIDE — IMPERFECT SELF-DEFENSE — MD. CODE , § 10-916 OF THE COURTS AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE ("CJP") — BATTERED SPOUSE SYNDROME: A criminal defendant accused of murdering her husband was entitled to a jury instruction on imperfect self-defense when she presented evidence that her husband physically abused her throughout their 24-year marriage, that his abuse had escalated in the weeks preceding his death, and that at the time of his killing she lived in a constant state of fear. Despite the fact that she hired a third-party to carry out the homicide, the defendant presented sufficient evidence that she actually believed she was in "imminent or immediate" danger to receive a jury instruction on imperfect self-defense. Accordingly, the trial court's misstatement of the elements of imperfect self-defense in its jury instruction did not constitute harmless error. We reverse the defendant's convictions and remand for a new trial.
Circuit Court for Baltimore County
Case No.: 03-K-10-001690
Barbera, C.J. Greene Adkins McDonald Watts Hotten Getty, JJ.
Opinion by Adkins, J.
Battered spouse syndrome is a form of posttraumatic stress disorder that develops in victims of intimate partner violence. Maryland law allows a woman on trial for harming her abuser to present evidence explaining battered spouse syndrome and its psychological effects regardless of whether she was the first aggressor, used excessive force, or failed to retreat. Md. Code , § 10-916(b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article ("CJP").1 This case asks us to analyze how Maryland's battered spouse syndrome statute interacts with the elements of imperfect self-defense. It presents the question of whether a defendant who contracted with a third-party to kill her abusive husband can present sufficient evidence that she felt as though she was in imminent danger to be entitled to an imperfect self-defense jury instruction.
Petitioner Karla Louise Porter met her husband, William Raymond Porter ("Ray"), in 1982. While they were dating, Ray began exhibiting controlling behaviors. He calledPorter at work multiple times a day to make sure she was in her office. He told her that she should spend all of her time maintaining their household or helping him with various tasks. Porter stopped spending time with her friends because Ray "didn't allow it."
After they were married in 1986, Ray began physically and verbally abusing Porter. At trial, Porter testified to numerous instances of violent abuse throughout their 24-year marriage, including that her husband had: beaten her with a belt; hit her with a wooden board; pushed her head into her mother's headstone and told her that she "should be with [her] dead mother"; stabbed a drill into her stomach, leaving a large scar; hit her with a rake; smeared dog excrement across her back; hit her with a toolbox; kicked her in the side; shoved her head into leaking sewage; and given her a black eye. She also testified that on multiple occasions he had: told her that she was "worthless" and "should die"; threatened to kill her; and forced her to drink water until she urinated on herself. Porter testified that she did not call the police or leave Ray after any of these instances of abuse because she was afraid he would retaliate. When asked why she did not move out of their home, she testified,
Porter testified that Ray's physical and verbal abuse escalated in the year preceding his death. During this time, Ray repeatedly expressed a desire to move to Florida. Porter testified, She explained that on previous visits to Florida, Ray had threatened to feed her to the alligators. In early 2010, Ray picked up one of his handguns and began yelling about moving to Florida. He told Porter that he did not want to take their children or his parents with them when they moved. He pointed his gun at her head and said, At the end of February 2010, Ray hit Porter across the back with a crutch because he felt that she did not adequately sympathize with the fact that he was bored. Porter testified that in the weeks leading up to Ray's death she was "terrified almost on a daily basis." She explained that
Beginning in mid-2009, Porter approached multiple people about killing her husband. That summer, she gave her daughter's boyfriend, Daniel Blackwell, $1,000 to "take care of" her husband. The week before Christmas, she asked one of Ray's coworkers, Tony Fails, to kill him. When asked why she solicited Fails to kill Ray, Porter testified, "It was getting so bad that I knew that Ray was going to kill me and I just wanted to kill him first." Neither Blackwell nor Fails took any action against Ray. In January 2010, Porter asked an acquaintance, Paige Huemann, if she knew where she could get some potassium cyanide to poison Ray. Eventually, Porter's nephew, Seamus Coyle, put her in touch with Walter Bishop, who agreed to kill her husband in exchange for $400. As to her mental state on the day her husband was shot, Porter testified, "In my mind, I knew he was going to kill me at any point."
On the morning of Ray's death, March 1, 2010, Porter told him that the alarm had gone off at the gas station that they owned. Ray went to the station, and around 6:30 a.m., Bishop came in and shot Ray twice. Immediately afterwards, Porter called 911 and told the police that the gas station had been robbed and that the thief had shot her husband. About a week later, Porter was arrested for her role in Porter's killing. She admitted topolice that she had paid Bishop to "beat [ ] up" her husband. Porter was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, three counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder, and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.
During the trial, Porter presented two expert witnesses to testify as to her mental state at the time of Ray's killing. Dr. Neal Blumberg, a forensic psychiatrist, testified that he met with Porter on five occasions while she was awaiting trial. He explained that he administered a variety of psychological tests and evaluations, and concluded to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Porter was suffering from major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Dr. Blumberg testified that Porter "described the relationship with her husband as escalating in a very negative direction," but that "her coping style was not to assert herself or go to the police." He testified, "Her response to that progressive abuse was to cover things over, to deny, to repress, to sort of avoid thinking about what was going on with the hopes that . . . things would settle down . . . ." Due in part to this response, which Dr. Blumberg referred to as "learned helplessness," he concluded to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Porter was suffering from battered spouse syndrome as defined in CJP § 10-916.
Dr. Mary Ann Dutton, a clinical psychologist, also testified for Porter. Dr. Dutton testified at length about the effects of chronic abuse on an individual's mental state, including describing common reasons women do not leave their abusers. She explained that victims of intimate partner violence often suffer from depression and hyperarousal, or "being on the lookout all the time." Dr. Dutton testified that battered woman syndrome can "augment" a woman's perception of the danger that she faces—it can make it seemmore threatening. Battered women often utilize personal coping mechanisms, such as "trying to keep the peace," Dr. Dutton explained, as opposed to public mechanisms, such as going to the police. She testified that she met with Porter twice and concluded to a reasonable degree of psychological certainty that Porter "experienced repeated abuse in the context of her marriage" and suffered from psychological effects as a result. Dr. Dutton also testified that she evaluated Porter's marriage using an instrument developed at Johns Hopkins University to identify relationships in which an abused spouse is in life-threatening danger. She explained that a number of the risk factors were present in the Porters' relationship, including escalation in the severity of the abuse, frequent use of alcohol, extensive jealousy, and death threats.
Porter also presented lay witness testimony describing Ray's abuse. Porter's childhood friend, Ray Naimaster, testified that Porter was "standoffish" w...
To continue reading
Request your trial