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PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor
H.B. 44
House Bill No. 44
AN ACT concerning
Homicide - Prosecution - "Year and a Day" Rule Abolished
FOR the purpose of abolishing the common-law rule of "year and a day"; by allowing a
prosecution for murder or manslaughter to be instituted regardless of the time
elapsed between the infliction of the fatal injury act or omission causing the death
of the victim and the death of the victim; requiring the State to prove, by a certain
standard, that the death of the victim resulted from the injury inflicted by the
accused providing for the application of this Act; and generally relating to the
prosecution of homicides.
BY adding to
Article 27 - Crimes and Punishments
Section 415 to be under the new subheading "Homicide - Prosecution"
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1992 Replacement Volume and 1995 Supplement)
Preamble
WHEREAS, Under the current law, the common law rule of "year and a day" bars
prosecution for murder or manslaughter unless the victim dies within a year and day from
the time the fatal injury was inflicted; and
WHEREAS, The conception of the "year and a day" rule may be traced back to
medieval times when the deficiencies of medical science often made it extremely difficult
to prove the cause of death whenever a considerable lapse of time intervened between the
mortal act or omission and the death itself; and
WHEREAS, This 700-year old common law rule in now outdated, and in light of
medical advances in lifesaving techniques and the improvements in forensics technology,
there is no sound reason for retaining the rule today; and
WHEREAS, The State of Maryland is one of only three remaining jurisdictions in
the United States that has not yet abolished the rule and of these remaining jurisdictions,
is the only one that has not yet addressed the common law rule of "year and a day" by
statute; and
WHEREAS, The Court of Appeals of Maryland held in State v. Minster, 302 Md.
240 (1985), and State v. Brown, 21 Md. App. 91 (1974), that any change to the common
law "year and a day" rule should be made by the General Assembly; now, therefore,
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
Article 27 - Crimes and Punishments
HOMICIDE - PROSECUTION
415.
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