Girouard v. State

Facts

Steven S. Girouard and Joyce M. Girouard had been married for about two months on October 28, 1987, the night of Joyce's death. Both were in the army. That night, Steven overheard Joyce tell a friend on the telephone that she had asked her first sergeant for a hardship discharge because her husband did not love her anymore. When Steven asked what she meant, she said, 'nothing.' Angered, he kicked away her plate of food and went to lie down in the bedroom. Joyce followed him, stepped onto the bed and onto his back, pulled his hair, and asked whether he was going to hit her. She taunted him with insults and said she wanted a divorce. She told him she had seen his commanding officer and filed abuse charges against him, and had filed charges with the Judge Advocate General's Office, so he would probably be court-martialed. She had lied about filing the charges. Steven took a long-handled kitchen knife from the kitchen and returned with it hidden behind a pillow. Joyce kept saying the marriage was a mistake, then asked what he was going to do. He lunged at her and stabbed her 19 times. Joyce was pronounced dead at the scene. Steven testified that Joyce was about five feet one inch tall and weighed 115 pounds, while he was six feet two inches tall and weighed over 200 pounds. A defense psychologist testified that Steven had reached the limit of his ability to swallow his anger.

Issues

1. Are taunting and insulting words alone adequate provocation to mitigate a charge of second degree murder to voluntary manslaughter?
2. Can a victim's words be adequate provocation when they come with stepping on the defendant's back and pulling his hair, but the defendant could not reasonably fear bodily harm?
3. Should the categories of adequate provocation be broadened to cover facts like these?

Holding

Joyce's taunting words, even with her stepping on Steven's back and pulling his hair, were not adequate provocation to mitigate second degree murder to voluntary manslaughter. She lacked the size and strength to make him reasonably fear bodily harm, and the provocation was not enough to cause a reasonable man to stab his provoker 19 times.