| 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! |