DONOVAN BYNES v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, Moylan, June 4, 2018,
Assault- Self Defense – A defendant was not engaged in “self defense” when he grabbed his girlfriend to get her out of the house as retaliation for her slapping him earlier because there was no evidence that he was in fear for his safety at that point in time

“This was a case of belligerent pillow talk run amok”
Entertaining as Moylan is, as (almost) always, I don’t love the emphasis on a “fear” requirement for self-defense. One is, of course, entitled to defend oneself against things that one doesn’t “fear.” Self-defense is more appropriately applied to situations where one is placed in apprehension of unwanted physical contact, regardless of whether one “fears” it or not. An unwanted caress, a shove, etc.
Also, Moylan’s free-form fact pattern makes this opinion worse than it needs to be. Is he saying that there was no evidence the defendant was justified in taking hold of the woman who had already slapped him in the face, snatched the phone out of his hands, and thrown it against the wall when she refused to leave the house? This opinion is written about a situation where the defendant apparently hit his girlfriend twice in the face but Moylan focuses on the limited physical action of grabbing her at the doorway. Perhaps fewer Buster Keaton references and more targeted application of law? Because had the facts been limited to this man grabbing the arm of a woman who had already struck him in order to get her out of the house… it’s difficult to say how “no” evidence was generated to allow a juror to consider whether that action was justified without him having to testify about his “fear.” It’s far easier to see how there was a lack of evidence regarding the defendant’s supposed need to punch her twice in the face.

Facts:
In 2016, Donovan Bynes and Ruth Chavez, his girlfriend, were in bed when she asked him to get the wine and turn out the lights so that they could have sex.
Bynes declined and told her that he didn’t want to have sex with her anymore. His girlfriend accused him of cheating, took his phone, and threw it at him. The phone broke against the wall. She then left the room, returned, and slapped him in the face, leaving a scratch.
Bynes then told her to get out of the house. When she refused, he grabbed some of her clothes and threw them outside.
When she still refused to leave, Bynes “grabbed her by her arms.” He testified that he said, “I told you get the fuck out” and that “She’s holding the door. I opened it and was able to get her out.”
Bynes testified that he grabbed her and pushed her out because “One, I had just gotten back in the house from being kicked out for getting a job that she didn’t like… Two, because she slapped me. You can’t do that. You can’t slap me and expect to still be here with me after everything we’ve been through. That’s not fair.”
Chavez testified that, during the argument, Bynes hit her twice in the face with his fist.
At trial, Bynes requested that the jury be given an instruction on self-defense. The judge denied this, however, finding that there was no evidence that Bynes was acting in self-defense at the time.
Bynes was convicted of assault and sentenced to ten years with all but three suspended.
Bynes then appealed, arguing that he was entitled to a self-defense instruction.

Held: The Court held that Bynes used force to retaliate, not to defend himself. Therefore, he was not entitled to an instruction on self-defense.

Self-Defense – Self-defense applies to all crimes involving an assault (homicide, assault, etc) and can provide a complete defense to the criminal charge.

Self-Defense (Non-deadly force) – Non-deadly force may be used in self-defense if:
– The individual actually believed that he or she was in immediate (about to happen) or imminent (could happen at any moment) danger of bodily harm
– That belief was reasonable
– The individual using self-defense wasn’t the aggressor (didn’t provoke the conflict)
– And no more force was used than was reasonably necessary

Self-Defense – A suspect may not use force against someone just because they want to retaliate for being assaulted earlier. Self-defense requires that, at the time force is used, it be done based on an actual belief that they are immediately or imminently in danger of bodily harm.

From the Case: The Court found that there was no self defense here because the defendant’s testimony showed that at the time he grabbed his girlfriend and pushed her out the door he “was not afraid; he was offended.”

From the Case: “The critical question in this case is that of how did this appellant respond to being slapped in the face. There is no suggestion that he struck back in self-defense. There is every indication that the appellant’s reaction to having been slapped was retaliatory—to order Ms. Chavez to get out of the house and, when she declined to leave voluntarily, to push her and her belongings out physically.”