Gossard v. Criminal Injuries Comp. Bd., 368 A.2d 443 (Md. 1977)

Cases | Gossard v. Criminal Injuries Comp. Bd., 368 A.2d 443 (Md. 1977) | 2018

The minor victim, whose mother was stabbed to death by his father, filed a claim with the board for compensation. The claim was denied by the order of a single board member because the victim was within the first degree of consanguinity with his parent and was statutorily excluded from receiving an award. The statute states: “A person who is criminally responsible for the crime upon which a claim is based or an accomplice of such person or a member of the family of such persons shall not be eligible to receive an award with respect to such claim.” The Board affirmed this order which was then affirmed by the trial court. The victim appealed to the intermediate court, arguing that both a blood relationship and a legal relationship were required under the statute, but the Court of Appeals granted certiorari on its own motion before that court could consider the case. The court found “no basis for interpreting “related to” as encompassing a legal relationship, since the words clearly modify “within the third degree of consanguinity,” and thus refer solely to a blood kinship. Since the parties stipulated the existence of a father-son blood relationship between the criminal and the child, the unambiguous terms of the Act exclude the child from compensation. The judgment was affirmed.