Estep v. State

86 A.2d 470, 199 Md. 308
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedOctober 1, 1997
Docket[No. 97, October Term, 1951.]
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 86 A.2d 470 (Estep v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estep v. State, 86 A.2d 470, 199 Md. 308 (Md. 1997).

Opinions

Marbury, C. J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Appellant, a physician, was indicted by the grand jury of Baltimore County under Code, Article 27, Sec. 3, was convicted under the fourth count of such indictment by the trial judge, sitting without a jury, and was sentenced to be confined in the Maryland House of Correction for a term of six months, and to pay a fine of $1,000.00. He appeals on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to show that he was guilty, and that therefore the decision of the trial judge was clearly erroneous.

The fourth count on which he was found guilty is as follows: “And the Jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present that the said Paul R. Estep on the said day in the said year at the county aforesaid unlawfully and wilfully did administer to one Jean Amend, she the said Jean Amend being then and there a woman pregnant with child a certain drug and substance the name and components of said drug and substance being to the Jurors aforesaid unknown with in[310]*310tent thereby then and there to procure the miscarriage of her the said Jean Amend * * This count, as will be seen, charges, him with administering a drug to a pregnant woman with intent to procure her miscarriage.

Our Rule 7 (c) of the Criminal Rules of Practice and Procedure has been before this court a number of times recently, and we have held that it was not intented and will not be construed to permit us to reverse judgments merely because our conclusion on the record is different from that of the trial judge. We must find that his conclusion was clearly erroneous. In the first case, however, in which we discussed this rule, Lambert v. State, 196 Md. 57, 75 A. 2d 327, we found that three of the appellants were charged with violation of the gambling laws at a certain premises on two dates, October 25 and October 26. We found from the evidence that there was no error in the verdict of guilty under the information which charged the offense on October 26, but we held that there did not appear in the record anything to connect three of the appellants with the premises on October 25, and, therefore, as to them we reversed the judgments based on verdicts of guilty of the offense charged on that date. We discussed the general scope of our rule in an opinion filed on a motion for re-argument in the case of Edwards v. State, 198 Md. 152, 83 A. 2d 578. In that opinion we said (p. 157) : “In any case, civil or criminal, to meet the test of legal sufficiency, evidence (if believed) must either show directly, or support a rational inference of, the fact to be proved. * * * In a criminal case the fact must be shown, or the inference supported, beyond a reasonable doubt or to a moral certainty, or reasonable doubt of an opposite fact must be created. The difference in degree of proof is ordinarily for the triers of facts.” We are, therefore, not to say whether we find beyond a reasonable doubt that a traverser is guilty of a crime with which he is charged. What we are to find is whether there was evidence,' or inferences from evidence, upon which the trial judge could find the traverser guilty. If the record shows such evi[311]*311dence or proper inferences, we cannot find that the decision of the trial judge is clearly erroneous, but if it contains no such evidence or inferences, then we must find his decision erroneous. This is illustrated by the Lambert case, supra, in which we found that there was no evidence that three of the traversers had been at a certain place on a certain day, and that therefore the decision of the trial judge was clearly erroneous as to an offense committed at that place on that day, however strong might have been the suspicion from their being there the day after, that they did have something to do with the place on that day.

In the case before us, the evidence centers around the intent with which the appellant administered a drug to the prosecuting witness. She was a married woman who had a paramour, and, in the course of time, the inevitable consequences resulted. She attempted to do something to avoid them. She says what she did was to take three drops of turpentine. In any event, although her purpose was not accomplished, some physical trouble resulted and she and her companion in the illicit affair sought the services of the appellant, a physician of about ten years practice. He said the first thing to be found out was whether the woman was pregnant. She went to see another doctor, but got no satisfaction from him, and then finally she and her companion came to see the appellant. He had previously informed them that his fee would be $200.00, but later reduced this to $150.00, and was paid this amount. We may not unreasonably suppose that this sum of money was intended by those who paid it to be the compensation for the performance of an abortion. It is true there was some circumstance which may have justified them in being fearful of the physical consequences to the woman of what had been done before by her, but their main purpose undoubtedly was to get rid of the impending child. What the appellant did when they came to his office was to examine the woman and then to give her an injection or “shot” in the arm. This is all the testi[312]*312mony as to his actions. There is nothing to show what was given through this injection, or that it was anything which could produce the result which the patient wanted. In fact, the only testimony from any other physician points to an opposite conclusion.

After the injection was made, appellant told the woman to return home, that she would start suffering pains in about twelve hours, not to be alarmed by them, and, if they were too hard to bear, to take some whiskey. She did start to suffer pains in about twelve hours, and finally went to a hospital, where a physician there found it necessary to express the contents of her womb in order to stop the bleeding. The appellant testified that what he injected into her arm was penicillin in order to prevent infection, but it is not necessary to believe his testimony in this respect. He said that he thought she was going to miscarry in about ten or twelve hours. He also testified that $150.00 was not his fee, but that the man offered him $150.00 to take care of the woman if she had any trouble, and that was why he took it. In this respect also it is not necessary for us to believe his testimony.

Nevertheless, in order to find him guilty of giving the woman a drug with intention to produce miscarriage, there must be, if not evidence what the drug was, at least some evidence that there is such a drug which would or which he thought would produce such a result if administered in this way. On this point, we have only the testimony of the other physician, and, in order that there may be no question about it, we quote it in full:

“Q. Doctor, would it have been possible for her condition to have been produced by the administration of any one dose of drug?
“(Mr. Turnbull) Objection.
“(The Court) I’ll let him answer that, if he is able.
“A. Beg your pardon?
“Q. (The Court) You can answer that. A. To my knowledge, no.
[313]*313“Q. (The Court) You mean, in your opinion.
A. In my opinion. Excuse me. You are assuming that she had a normal pregnancy and nothing was wrong with it, and to administer a drug to produce—
“Q.

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Bluebook (online)
86 A.2d 470, 199 Md. 308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estep-v-state-md-1997.