In Ford v. State, 12 Md. 514 (1859), the defendant was charged with "wilful murder" of another man "by shooting him with a pistol." Id. at 515. When the jury was asked to give its verdict, the foreman stated that the verdict was "Guilty." Id. at 547. Defense counsel asked that the jury be polled. Id. The court then directed the clerk to ask the jury, when he polled them, "Whether they found the prisoner guilty of murder in the first degree, or murder in the second degree?" To which question, when it was put to the jury, the foreman answered for the jury, in the words, "Guilty of murder in the first degree," in an audible voice; and each of the remaining eleven jurors, when polled, responded, "Guilty," without specifying the degree of murder in words. Id. at 548. Ford argued that there was no unanimity in the verdict regarding the degree of murder on which he was found guilty. Id. at 534. The Court of Appeals agreed, stating that Article 19 (now 21) of the Maryland Declaration of Rights provides that, in all criminal prosecutions, a man has the right to, inter alia, "a speedy trial by an impartial jury, without whose unanimous consent he ought not to be found guilty." Id. at 549. The Court stated: "'The verdict is the unanimous decision made by a jury and reported to the court, on the matters lawfully submitted to them in the course of the trial.' Unanimity is indispensable to the sufficiency of the verdict." Id. The Court of Appeals held that, under the circumstances of that case, where the foreman initially said "guilty" for the panel, and when the entire jury was polled, eleven of them replied "guilty," without specifying the degree in words, Ford was not found guilty of murder in the first degree by each member of the jury. Id. Because the jury, in their verdict, did not unanimously find Ford guilty of murder in the first degree, there was "no valid and sufficient verdict." Id. at 549.