VINCENT DEON SPENCE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Vincent Spence was convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting an unarmed victim during a street altercation. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction, finding sufficient evidence that Spence's conduct was eminently dangerous and evinced a depraved mind indifferent to human life.
The conviction for second-degree murder is affirmed. There is sufficient evidence that the defendant's acts were eminently dangerous and evinced a depraved mind regardless of human life. Any error in the prosecutor's comment regarding the legal consequences of carrying a gun was harmless.
[1] A defendant's acts can be considered eminently dangerous, evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, sufficient to support a conviction for second-degree murder.
[2] A prosecutor's comment on the legal consequences of a defendant carrying a gun at the time of a death may constitute harmless error.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“there is sufficient evidence to support a conclusion by the jury that the defendant's acts were eminently dangerous, evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life”
The court's holding establishing that the evidence supported conviction for second-degree murder based on the statutory definition
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSpence and the victim engaged in a verbal altercation after the intoxicated victim made obscene remarks about Spence's niece and slapped her. When the…
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STONE, Judge.
We affirm the defendant's conviction of second degree murder. The defendant and the victim became involved in a verbal altercation. The victim, who had been drinking, made obscene remarks and gestures regarding the defendant’s niece, resulting in an exchange of curses. When the defendant learned that the victim had, undetected, just slapped his niece, who was present on the scene, further argument erupted. The victim approached the defendant with a closed fist and the defendant, who was in the company of two other men, pulled out a pistol, struck the victim in the face with it, and knocked him to the ground. The defendant then fired the gun into the air. As the victim was getting up, the defendant pointed the gun downward at the victim and fired the fatal shot. The victim was unarmed, but there was testimony that he had reached into his jacket pocket before he was shot. There was no other evidence to support the defendant’s contention that he believed the victim was armed, although the defense argued that this belief was supported by the fact that it was a rough neighborhood.
We conclude that there is sufficient evidence to support a conclusion by the jury that the defendant’s acts were eminently dangerous, evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life. See State v. Bryan, 287 So. 2d 73 (Fla.1973), cert, denied, 417 U.S. 912, 94 S.Ct. 2611, 41 L.Ed.2d 216 (1974); Presley v. State, 499 So. 2d 64 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Larsen v. State, 485 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1st DCA), affirmed, 492 So. 2d 1333 (Fla.1986); Roberts v. State, 425 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982), rev. denied, 434 So. 2d 888 (Fla.1983); Edwards v. State, 302 So. 2d 479 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Hines v. State, 227 So. 2d 334 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969); § 782.04(2), Fla.Stat. (1983). As to the prosecutor’s comment on the legal consequences of the defendant carrying a gun at the time of the victim’s death, we find any error to be harmless. See Roman v. State, 475 So. 2d 1228 (Fla. 1985), cert, denied, 475 U.S. 1090,106 S.Ct. 1480, 89 L.Ed.2d 734 (1986); State v. Murray, 443 So. 2d 955 (Fla.1984). The judgment and sentence are affirmed.
HERSEY, C.J., and WALDEN, J., concur.
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Cited By
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Whitcraft v. State, 528 So. 2d 998 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…murder charge to manslaughter and 2) the trial court erred in failing to define the term “criminal agency” when requested to do so by the jury. We find no merit in Whitcraft’s contentions and affirm. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.410, 3.420; see Spence v. State, 515 So. 2d 312 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); Larsen v. State, 485 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1st DCA), aff'd, 492 So. 2d 1333 (Fla.1986); Parker v. State, 336 So. 2d 426 (Fla. 1st DCA), appeal and cert. dismissed, 341 So. 2d 292 (Fla.1976). Affirmed. NESBITT and BASKIN, JJ., co…
Authorities Cited (12 total)
- State v. Murray, 443 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 1984)
- Roman v. State, 475 So. 2d 1228 (Fla. 1985)
- State v. Bryan, 287 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 1973)
- Hines v. State, 227 So. 2d 334 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969)
- Blanks v. Georgia, 475 U.S. 1090 (U.S. 1986)
- Southland News Co., Inc. v. Cnty. of Winnebago, 475 U.S. 1090 (U.S. 1986)
- Larsen v. State, 485 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- Migliorini v. New York, 417 U.S. 912 (U.S. 1974)
- Manzardo v. Pullman Co., 417 U.S. 912 (U.S. 1974)
- Roberts v. State, 425 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)