State v. Gibson
| Decision Date | 30 June 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 321,321 |
| Citation | 254 A.2d 691,254 Md. 399 |
| Parties | STATE of Maryland v. Michael Dana GIBSON. |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
L. Robert Evans, Deputy State's Atty., for Baltimore County, Towson (Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen., Robert A. DiCicco, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baltimore, and Samuel A. Green, Jr., State's Atty. for Baltimore County, Towson, on the brief), for appellant.
Donald J. Gilmore, Westminster (Richard D. Byrd, Towson, on the brief), for appellee.
The State indicted Michael Dana Gibson in five counts for causing the death of Diana Grempler by the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle. The State's attorney for Baltimore County seemingly feared he could not prove gross negligence for in the first four counts he sought to charge involuntary manslaughter by automobile solely by reason of a violation of law without alleging gross negligence. The first count charged that the death resulted from Gibson's failure to stop in obedience to a stop sign, the second that it resulted from his reckless driving, the third as a result of his driving under the influence of alcohol, and the fourth as a direct result of Gibson's possession, he being under twenty-one, of an alcoholic beverage on a public highway. Each count concluded with the words '(Common Law-Misdemeanor Manslaughter).' The fifth count was brought under Code (1967 Repl.Vol), Art. 27, § 388, for that Gibson, while operating an automobile unlawfully 'in a grossly negligent' manner, did kill Miss Grempler.
Judge Menchine, in granting a motion to dismiss the first four counts, rejected the State's contention that if an unlawful act, regardless of its nature or character, causes death, the perpetrator is guilty of involuntary manslaughter and held that none of those counts legally charged a crime. The Court of Special Appeals affirmed on the ground that the legislature in enacting Ch. 414 of the Laws of 1941, Code , Art. 27, § 388, entitled 'Manslaughter by Automobile * * *,' intended to encompass the entire field of unintentional criminal homicides resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle so that the common law crime of involuntary manslaughter (whatever are its scope and limits) when based on occurrences of that type is controlled and governed exclusively by the statute. Since the matter was of public importance in the administration of the criminal law, we granted certiorari.
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Harris v. State
...homicides committed by motor vehicle." In support, appellant cites State v. Gibson , 4 Md. App. 236, 242 A.2d 575, aff'd , 254 Md. 399, 254 A.2d 691 (1969), where this Court held that the manslaughter by vehicle statute preempted the common law offense of misdemeanor manslaughter by operati......
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Special Investigation No. 228, In re, 318
...Watkins v. State, 42 Md.App. 349, 400 A.2d 464 (1979); and State v. Gibson, 4 Md.App. 236, 247, 242 A.2d 575 (1968), aff'd. 254 Md. 399, 254 A.2d 691 (1969). Reinforcing that general principle is the fact that the Legislature in 1939 was concerned with strengthening gambling investigations ......
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Plummer v. State
...Faulcon v. State, 211 Md. 249, 257, 126 A.2d 858 (1956); State v. Gibson, 4 Md.App. 236, 242-43, 242 A.2d 575 (1968), aff'd, 254 Md. 399, 254 A.2d 691 (1969). Gross negligence in this context has been defined as "a wanton or reckless disregard for human life." Kramer, supra, at 580, 569 A.2......
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State v. Lancaster
...prison sentence of 10 years).1 Five years of the prison term were suspended in favor of five years probation.2 See State v. Gibson, 254 Md. 399, 401, 254 A.2d 691 (1969) (by creating offense of manslaughter by automobile, legislature intended to encompass entire field of unintentional crimi......