ROBIN DODDRIDGE GUTHRIE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Robin Doddridge Guthrie was convicted by jury of aggravated battery for attacking a fellow inmate with a flashlight battery held in his fist, causing permanent facial scarring and other injuries. On appeal, Guthrie argued the evidence supported only simple battery, but the appellate court affirmed, holding that the permanent facial scar and great bodily harm were sufficiently proven and the jury's verdict was supported by evidence.
The court affirmed the conviction, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support aggravated battery. The permanent facial scar requiring twelve stitches, combined with the substantial bruises and other injuries, constitutes either permanent disfigurement or great bodily harm, and the jury's determination of this fact was properly supported by their personal observation of the scar and the photographic evidence.
[1] Whether a permanent facial scar constitutes disfigurement for the purposes of aggravated battery is a question for the jury based on personal observation.
[2] Proof of great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement is sufficient to establish aggravated battery.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We cannot and should not reweigh the evidence in the cold record before us and hold as a matter of law that neither permanent disfigurement nor great bodily harm was proved.”
Establishes the appellate standard of review that the court will not second-guess the jury's verdict based on the record alone.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant and another inmate attacked a victim at Brevard Correctional Institution, repeatedly hitting him in the face, shoulders, and back. Appellant…
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COWART, Judge.
Appellant was tried by a jury and found guilty of aggravated battery. § 784.-045(l)(a), Fla.Stat. (1979). On appeal, he argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal, arguing that the evidence only supported simple battery. § 784.03, Fla.Stat. (1979).
This case arose out of an unprovoked attack of an inmate at Brevard Correctional Institution wherein appellant and another inmate repeatedly hit the victim in the face, and on the shoulders and back. The appellant’s blows gained added force by a flashlight battery held in his fist. As the result of this attack, the victim suffered substantial bruises on his back and shoulders, a cut on his shoulder, a cut on his ear, a cut open lip,1 and a cut just above his right eye. Although the victim testified that his sight had not been permanently affected, the cut over his eye required twelve stitches and left a permanent scar. In addition to personally viewing the victim’s scar at the time of trial, the six members of the jury had the benefit of three photographs of the victim’s injuries taken shortly after he was injured.2 With the benefit of these personal observations, the trial judge denied the appellant’s motion for judgment of acquittal and the six members of the jury weighed the evidence and, after being adequately charged, found appellant guilty of aggravated battery.
The trial judge and the jury saw the injuries the victim incurred and the photographs. We cannot and should not reweigh the evidence in the cold record before us and hold as a matter of law that neither permanent disfigurement nor great bodily harm was proved.3 Whether or not a permanent facial scar is disfiguring should only be determined by personal observation.4 Notwithstanding the permanent nature of this scar, section 784.045(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1979), specifically does not require a permanent injury because many serious injuries leave no lasting effect on the health of the victim. In determining if “great bodily harm” has occurred in a given fact situation, Owens v. State, 289 So. 2d 472 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974),5 is quite apt to the instant case:
“Great bodily harm defines itself and means great as distinguished from slight, trivial, minor, or moderate harm, and as such does not include mere bruises as are likely to be inflicted in a simple assault and battery .... Whether the evidence describing such harm or injury is within the meaning of the Statute ... is generally a question of fact for the jury.” [emphasis added]
Id. at 474 (quoting Anderson v. State, 155 Ind.App. 121, 291 N.E. 2d 579 (1973)).
AFFIRMED.
COBB and SHARP, W., JJ., concur. . The treating physician advised the victim that this cut required stitches but there was no testimony as to whether this was ever done.
. Admission of one photograph of the victim’s face was objected to by defense counsel as being too “gruesome” for admission.
. Section 784.045(l)(a) provides:
(1) A person commits aggravated battery who, in committing battery:
(a) Intentionally or knowingly causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement; [emphasis added]
Thus, proof of any one of the three types of injuries is sufficient for conviction.
. Again note the defense counsel’s characterization in note 2, supra.
. The facts involved in Owens v. State, 289 So. 2d 472 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974), are practically identical to the facts in the instant case. There the victim was attacked by the appellant and two others as he was leaving the restroom of a bar. The victim’s injuries were described as “a broken nose, one eye completely shut and the other I could barely see out of. My lip was busted and I had blood on me.” Id. at 473. There, as here, the jury had an opportunity to examine the evidentiary photos of the victim’s injuries taken the following day. In weighing the seriousness of the injuries, the Owens court considered such a determination a question of fact for the jury.
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Citator
Cited By (11 total)
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Hardwick v. State, 630 So. 2d 1212 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)…ly all the reported aggravated battery cases which do not involve use of a deadly weapon involve beatings, hittings, chokings and the like from which intent to do or knowledge of the requisite harm can easily be inferred. See e.g., Guthrie v. State, 407 So. 2d 357 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Jackson v. [*1214] State, 338 So. 2d 231 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). The defendant asserts there is no evidence that he intended to cause great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement to the victim. The issue of pr…
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Warren v. State, 475 So. 2d 1027 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)…l the facts and circumstances of this case, a jury could find that appellant’s hypothesis of innocence was not reasonable. Dewey v. State, 186 So. 224, 135 Fla. 443 (Fla.1938); Pittman v. State, 360 So. 2d 1138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Guthrie v. State, 407 So. 2d 357 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Cf., Bradford v. State, 460 So. 2d 926 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). We also find without merit appellant’s assertion the trial judge erred in failing to grant her motion to sever the child abuse count concerning William from the remaini…
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McKNIGHT v. State, 492 So. 2d 450 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)…t the punch resulted in extremely serious brain injury to the seventy year old victim. Whether the evidence, in any given case, rises to the level of great bodily harm required by the statute is generally a question for the jury. Guthrie v. State, 407 So. 2d 357 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Owens v. State, 289 So. 2d 472 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974). We agree with those two cases. The extent and nature of a victim’s injuries vary according to the circumstances peculiar to each situation, such as the amount of force used or t…
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- Owens v. State, 289 So. 2d 472 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)