Opinion
Civil No. JFM-04-2261.
March 25, 2005
MEMORANDUM
This is an action for recovery of life insurance benefits. Defendant has refused to pay the benefits on the ground that the deceased, Horace Gwaltney (who was plaintiff's husband) made material misrepresentations in the insurance application. Specifically, defendant contends that Gwaltney failed to disclose his convictions on charges for felony theft in 1994 and felony drug possession in 1996.
Plaintiff does not dispute that if Gwaltney had been convicted on the 1994 and 1996 charges, his failure to disclose them was material.
Discovery has been completed, and defendant has filed a motion for summary judgment. The motion will be granted.
The record establishes that on May 4, 1994, Gwaltney was convicted on a felony theft charge in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Plaintiff contends that this conviction was invalid because at the time Gwaltney was only sixteen years of age. However, under Maryland law a Juvenile Court may waive exclusive jurisdiction "with respect to a petition alleging delinquency by . . . a child who is 15 years old or older. . . ." Md. Code Ann., Cts. Jud. Proc. Art., § 3-8A-06(a)(1). Although the records of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City presented by defendant in support of its summary judgment motion do not contain waiver documents, the very fact of the adult conviction reflects that a waiver occurred. Presumptively, the proceedings in the Circuit Court were lawful, and they would not have been lawful absent a waiver. Gwaltney himself never collaterally attacked his 1994 felony conviction, and plaintiff's present attempt to do so is nothing more than an after-the-fact effort to justify Gwaltney's non-disclosure of the conviction.
Plaintiff's challenge to Gwaltney's conviction on a January 29, 1996 felony charge of possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance is even weaker. Plaintiff relies solely upon the fact that some of the Baltimore City Circuit Court records refer to "Diontay Leslie Gwaltney" as the defendant who was convicted on the January 29, 1996 felony drug possession charge. The fallacy in this argument is that a certified report obtained by defendant from the Criminal Justice Information System, based on data from Maryland's fingerprint supported criminal history record information system, states that Horace Gwaltney used various aliases, including Diontay Gwaltney. Likewise, other records obtained from the Baltimore City Circuit Court reflect that it was Horace Gwaltney, not Diontay Gwaltney, who was convicted on the January 29, 1996 charge.
For these reasons, defendant's motion for summary judgment will be granted. A separate order to that effect is being entered herewith.
ORDER
For the reasons stated in the accompanying memorandum, it is, this 25th day of March 2005ORDERED
1. Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted; and
2. Judgment is entered in favor of defendant against plaintiff.