Garnett v. State

1993

Court: Maryland Supreme Court

Facts: Garnet was very retarded. He wound up having sex with a 14-year-old, but probably believed her when she said she was older. She got pregnant, he got charged with statutory rape.

Posture: Convicted at trial... some sort of Maryland strangeness here: there's a "court of special appeals" mentioned.

Issue: Does his error in fact excuse him?

Holding: No. The legislature is the right course for remedy; aside from that, defendants need to rely on sentencing discretion.

Rule: It's strict liability. That means that the liability is strict.

Reasoning: Lots of words here, and it seems like the court is uncomfortable with its ruling, but there you have it.

Dicta: Two dissents!