J. A. C., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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A juvenile was adjudicated delinquent for vehicular homicide after a drag racing accident killed a passenger. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the juvenile's conduct was not the proximate cause of death because the victim's independent intervening act—grabbing the steering wheel instead of the gear shift—superseded the defendant's wrongful conduct.
The adjudication of delinquency for vehicular homicide must be reversed because proximate causation is an essential requirement for conviction, and the victim's own independent intervening act superseded any wrongful effect of the juvenile's drag racing conduct. The case is remanded with directions to discharge the respondent.
[1] A defendant's conduct cannot be the proximate cause of a homicide when the decedent's own independent intervening act supersedes the effect of the defendant's conduct.
[2] Proximate causation is an essential element for a conviction of vehicular homicide.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the allegedly wrongful conduct of the respondent could not be deemed the proximate cause of the homicide since its effect was superseded by the decedent's own independent intervening act”
Establishes the court's rationale that the victim's independent intervening act breaks the chain of proximate causation
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe juvenile was driving a car in a drag race in Dade County with the decedent as a passenger. While the decedent attempted to operate the gear shift,…
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SCHWARTZ, Judge.
The juvenile appellant was declared delinquent as a result of the trial judge’s finding that he was guilty of vehicular homicide, in violation of Section 782.-071, Fla.Stat. (1977); see McCreary v. State, 371 So. 2d 1024 (Fla.1979).
The record showed that the decedent was a passenger in a car being driven by the respondent in a drag race in Dade County. The accident occurred only because the decedent, while attempting to operate the gear shift, instead grabbed the steering wheel and caused the vehicle to go out of control. Under these circumstances, the allegedly wrongful conduct of the respondent could not be deemed the proximate cause of the homicide since its effect was superseded by the decedent’s own independent intervening act. See Cone v. Inter County Telephone & Telegraph Co., 40 So. 2d 148 (Fla.1949); Adair v. The Island Club, 225 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
Since, as this court has indicated in Karl v. State, 144 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962), proximate causation is an essential requirement for conviction of the crime in question, see also Tegethoff v. State, 220 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969), and cases cited; cf. Thompson v. State, 108 Fla. 370, 146 So. 201 (1933), the adjudication below may not be sustained. The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded with directions to discharge the respondent.1
Reversed and remanded.
. Although reckless driving, of which the evidence conclusively showed the respondent to be guilty, is a lesser included offense of the crime with which he was charged, the order below cannot be upheld on this ground because reckless driving is a “juvenile traffic offense” which may not be the basis of an adjudication of delinquency. Sections 39.01(21); 39.02(1), Fla.Stat. (1978).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Cone v. Inter Cnty. Tel. Tel. Co., 40 So.2d 148 (Fla. 1949)
- McCREARY v. State, 371 So. 2d 1024 (Fla. 1979)
- Adair v. THE Island Club, 225 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)
- Johns v. State, 108 Fla. 261 (Fla. 1933)
- Karl v. State, 144 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962)
- Tegethoff v. State, 220 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969)
- Thompson v. State, 108 Fla. 370 (Fla. 1933)