Howell v. State

Travis Howell v. State of Maryland No. 43, September Term 2018 Criminal Law – Duress Defense. To generate the common law defense of duress in a criminal trial, the defendant must, among other things, produce some evidence that he or she committed the crime because of a well-grounded apprehension of a “present, immediate, and impending” threat of death or serious bodily injury with no reasonable opportunity of escape. Criminal Law – Duress Defense – Exceptions. As a matter of public policy, duress is not a defense to intentional murder. The Court declined to decide whether public policy…