Facts
- Three men entered a Baltimore shoe store; one, identified as Leon Bruce, wore a mask and carried a handgun.
- Bruce demanded the store owner, Barry Tensor, open the cash register while an accomplice took money from the drawer.
- Bruce ordered Tensor to open a second register; Tensor said it was empty.
- Bruce aimed the gun at Tensor’s face, threatened to kill him, and shot him during the encounter.
- Tensor suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and was hospitalized for about five weeks.
Issues
- Whether “attempted felony murder” is a recognized criminal offense under Maryland law.
Decision
- The Court of Appeals of Maryland held that attempted felony murder is not a crime in Maryland.
- The court reversed Bruce’s conviction for attempted felony murder.
- The case was remanded for resentencing on the remaining valid convictions that had been merged into the attempted felony murder count at sentencing.
Legal Principles
- Criminal attempt requires a specific intent to commit the target offense and an overt act constituting a substantial step beyond mere preparation.
- Felony murder does not require a specific intent to kill; liability for murder attaches when a killing occurs during the perpetration of specified felonies.
- Because attempt doctrine requires intent to commit the completed crime, and felony murder is defined to operate without intent to kill, “attempted felony murder” is logically incompatible and cannot be recognized absent legislative authorization.
- Courts should not create new serious offenses without clear statutory or common-law grounding, particularly where the legislature has defined homicide categories and inchoate offenses without providing for an attempt form of felony murder.
Conclusion
Maryland’s highest court rejected attempted felony murder as a cognizable offense because the specific-intent element of attempt cannot be reconciled with felony murder’s lack of an intent-to-kill requirement, and it reversed the attempted felony murder conviction while remanding for resentencing on the remaining convictions.