Darrayl John Wilson v. State of Maryland, No. 436, September Term 2018. Opinion by Beachley, J. SPOUSAL PRIVILEGE—SHAM MARRIAGES WITNESS TAMPERING AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE—CORRUPT MEANS Defendant confessed to his girlfriend that he was responsible for a murder. Girlfriend subsequently informed the police, and defendant was charged with that murder. While awaiting the murder trial, defendant attempted to marry girlfriend via a telephone call so that she could invoke her spousal privilege and avoid being compelled to testify against him in defendant’s pending murder trial. In response to defendant’s purported marriage to his girlfriend, the State charged defendant with “corrupt means” witness tampering and obstruction of justice—namely for seeking to silence the girlfriend’s testimony. A jury convicted defendant of witness tampering and obstruction of justice, and defendant appealed. Held: Judgment reversed. The prevailing rule throughout the country is to allow a spouse to invoke the spousal privilege regardless of the reasons for the marriage— including for the sole purpose of silencing a potential witness. Prior Maryland cases acknowledged the prevailing rule, but it is now expressly adopted. In light of adopting the prevailing rule, there can be no “corrupt means” witness tampering or obstruction of justice for simply endeavoring to invoke a legally recognized evidentiary privilege. Circuit Court for Charles County Case No. C-08-CR-17-000048 REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 436 September Term, 2018 DARRAYL JOHN WILSON v. STATE OF MARYLAND Berger, Friedman, Beachley, JJ. Opinion by Beachley, J. Filed: July 30, 2019 Pursuant to Maryland Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (§§ 10-1601 et seq. of the State Government Article) this document is authentic. 2019-07-30 13:30-04:00 Suzanne C. Johnson, Clerk On June 30, 2017, the State charged appellant Darrayl Wilson, by way of indictment, with two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of witness tampering. In the indictment, the State alleged that appellant “did by corrupt means” try to impede, influence, and obstruct Kearra Bannister from testifying against him by seeking to marry her. On January 18, 2018, a jury sitting in the Circuit Court for Charles County convicted appellant of one count of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering. The court sentenced appellant to twenty years’ incarceration, all but three-and-a-half years suspended, for witness tampering, and a concurrent three-and-a-half-year sentence for obstruction of justice. Appellant timely appealed and presents the following two issues for our review: 1. Was the evidence sufficient to convict appellant of “corrupt means” witness tampering and “corrupt means” obstruction of justice? 2. Does the sentence for witness tampering merge into the sentence for obstruction of justice? We conclude, as a matter of law, that appellant’s actions do not constitute “corrupt means” as contemplated by the crimes of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Accordingly, we vacate appellant’s convictions, and need not decide the merger issue. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In August of 2011, Crystal Anderson’s mother reported her missing. Unfortunately, in January 2012, Ms. Anderson’s body was discovered in Nanjemoy, Maryland, near Purse State Park. The ...
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