Germain v. State
Maryland Court of Appeals
769 A.2d 931 (2001)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Jean Germain (defendant) injured John Campbell while the two were in the same jail cell. Germain was charged with assaulting and attempting to murder Campbell. Germain claimed that he believed Campbell was a convicted sex offender and that this belief influenced him to act strongly in self-defense when it appeared that Campbell was trying to sexually assault him. At trial, Germain’s attorney asked Campbell if he had pleaded guilty to sodomizing a young boy. Campbell claimed he did not recall the details of his guilty plea. Germain asked the court for permission to show Campbell the presentence-investigation report (PSI) that was prepared for Campbell’s prior guilty plea to try to refresh Campbell’s memory about the conviction’s details. However, the PSI contained personal information about Campbell and was considered confidential to protect that personal information from public disclosure. The court refused to allow Germain to use the PSI to refresh Campbell’s memory because of the PSI’s confidential nature. Germain was convicted and appealed. On appeal, Germain argued that the trial court should have allowed him to use Campbell’s PSI to try to refresh Campbell’s memory.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cathell, J.)
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