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! |