Preview:

State v. Brady, No. 27, September Term 2004. Opinion by Bell, C.J. CRIMINAL LAW - TRANSFERRED INTENT The doctrine of transferred intent does not apply to attempted murder when an unintended victim is injured, but not killed.

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 27 September Term, 2004 _____________________________________

STATE OF MARYLAND v. TERRELL BRADY _____________________________________ Bell, C.J. Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene, JJ. ______________________________________

Opinion by Bell, C.J. ______________________________________

Filed:

July 28, 2006

In this case, we address whether the doctrine of transferred intent applies to attempted murder when an unintended victim is injured, but not killed. The Court of Special Appeals, in an unrep orted opinio n, held that the doctrine do es not app ly in that situation. We agree and, therefore, shall affirm. A. Several shootings oc curred on May 3, 199 8, in the 560 0 block of Lothian D rive in Baltimore City. James Jones ("James"), and Gregory White ("White") were inside the residence at 5649 Lothian Drive, while JoAnn Lee ("Lee") and Jonathan Jones ("Jonathan") were seated in a car outside the residence. The shots were fired into the first floor apartment and also into the car in which L ee and Jonathan w ere seated. Broken glass from the shattered car windows in jured Jona than, and W hite, a teenag er who w as watch ing television in the apartmen t, was shot in the legs as he attempted to run upon observing James running through the apartment, followed by two men, who were shooting at him. Witnesses identified the responde nt, Terrell Brady (Brady) as one of the individuals involved in the shootin gs. Con sequ ently, Brady w as arres ted and charge d, inter alia, with two counts of attempted first degree murder, one as to James, the intended victim, and the other as to White, the unintended victim. He wa s subsequ ently tried by a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and c onvicte d of tho se, and r elated h andgu n, charg es. At the conclusion of the case and after instruc ting the jury with respect to attempted murder, the trial court gav e the follow ing instruction on transfe rred intent:

"If there is an intent to kill one victim, in the course of the attack on that victim

Download State v. Brady.pdf

Maryland Law