State v. Speaks

OPINION

FLANDERS, Justice.

According to the Bible, when King Solomon had to judge which of two women was the true mother of the infant they were both claiming, he threatened to sunder the baby in two with a sword and to give each woman an equal half. He hoped the real mother would give up the child rather than allow him to harm the baby. 1

Here, to prevent his former wife from obtaining custody of their infant child, the defendant, Bernard H. Speaks, held a loaded gun to his baby’s head. Like King Solomon, he too hoped the baby’s mother would give up the child rather than allow him to harm it.…