GAYLE EUGENE KINSEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Gayle Eugene Kinsey was convicted of battery on a law enforcement officer, but the appellate court reversed because the trial court erroneously refused to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication, which is a relevant defense when intent is an element of the offense.
The trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication constituted reversible error. Under Mellins v. State, when intent is a requisite element of the offense and the record contains some evidence of intoxication, the instruction must be given.
[1] It is reversible error not to instruct on voluntary intoxication in a case where intent is a requisite element of the offense charged, if the record contains some evidenc…
[2] The presence of evidence that a defendant was detained under a statute for incapacitated intoxicated individuals, coupled with testimony from eyewitnesses concluding the…
Previewing 2 of 6 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“in a case where intent is a requisite element of the offense charged, as here, it is reversible error not to instruct on voluntary intoxication if the record contains some evidence of intoxication”
Establishes the legal rule from Mellins that triggers the requirement for a voluntary intoxication instruction when intent is an element of the crime
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKinsey was detained at Pasco County jail under the Myers Act for public intoxication. On April 18, 1986, corrections officer Bouton discovered the hol…
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CAMPBELL, Judge.
Appellant, Gayle Eugene Kinsey, was convicted of two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer in violation of sections 784.07 and 784.03, Florida Statutes (1985). He argues that the trial court committed reversible error when it refused to give a requested jury instruction on voluntary intoxication. We agree with appellant and reverse and remand for a new trial.
Under Mellins v. State, 395 So. 2d 1207 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 402 So. 2d 613 (Fla.1981), in a case where intent is a requisite element of the offense charged, as here, it is reversible error not to instruct on voluntary intoxication if the record contains some evidence of intoxication. See also Fouts v. State, 374 So. 2d 22 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979), overruled on other grounds, 408 So. 2d 1037 (Fla.1982).
We find that the record here contains sufficient evidence of intoxication for us to conclude that the court’s failure to give the requested instruction on voluntary intoxication amounts to reversible error. Appellant had been brought into the Pas-co County jail under the Myers Act, section 396.072, Florida Statutes (1985), which allows a peace officer to detain an incapacitated intoxicated individual in municipal or county jail for up to seventy-two hours. Pasco County corrections officer, Paul Bou-ton, testified that on April 18, 1986, he had discovered that the window of the holding cell in his detention center was covered with toilet tissue. He called Sergeant Ainsworth as a backup. When the officers attempted to enter the cell, appellant yelled obscenities and shook his fists at them. A struggle then ensued between appellant and Detective Haynes, who had also entered the cell, resulting in the instant charges.
Officer Bouton testified that appellant appeared intoxicated. Sergeant Ainsworth also testified that appellant seemed intoxicated. Detective Haynes did not form an opinion as to appellant’s intoxication. Thus, not only was appellant detained under the Myers Act for public intoxication, two of the three eyewitnesses concluded that appellant was intoxicated. These facts present sufficient evidence of intoxication that the instruction should have been given.
Although appellant denied being intoxicated, this fact does not preclude giving the instruction since appellant did not deny that he had been drinking. This is because the question of intoxication is a mixed question of law and fact and, as such, should be presented to the jury for determination. See Mellins, 395 So. 2d at 1210.
The state cites Lambrix v. State, 534 So. 2d 1151 (Fla.1988), for the proposition that a trial court may refuse to give an intoxication instruction despite the apparent use of intoxicants. Lambrix does not apply to the instant case, however, because in Lambrix, despite the defendant’s apparent use of intoxicants, there was no evidence of intoxication. Here, there was ample evidence of intoxication.
Moreover, the court’s error in failing to give the requested jury instruction on voluntary intoxication cannot be considered harmless. See Mellins, 395 So. 2d at 1209. We must, accordingly, reverse appellant’s convictions and remand to the trial court for a new trial.
Although appellant also questions his sentence on appeal, we find that our disposition of his first issue concerning the improper jury instructions renders his sentencing issue moot.
We conclude that the court’s failure to give the requested jury instruction on voluntary intoxication was reversible error and, accordingly, reverse appellant’s convictions and remand for a new trial.
DANAHY, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Grandison v. State, 714 So. 2d 607 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…and voluntary intoxication is a defense. Id. In Mel-lins, and other cases, the courts have taken the view that where there is “some evidence” to support the intoxication defense, the question is one for the jury to resolve. See e.g. Kinsey v. State, 567 So. 2d 980 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (“it is reversible error not to instruct on voluntary intoxication if the record contains some evidence of intoxication.”); Heddleson v. State, 512 So. 2d 957, 959 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987) (“when there is some evidence introduced to su…
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Firth v. State, 764 So. 2d 734 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)…as recognized as a defense to a specific intent crime,1 see Linehan v. State, 476 So. 2d 1262, 1264 (Fla.1985), and it was error not to instruct on voluntary intoxication where the record contained some evidence of intoxication, see Kinsey v. State, 567 So. 2d 980, 980 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). Section 784.045(1)(b), Florida Statutes (1997), provides that the crime of aggravated battery is committed where the “person who was the victim of the battery was pregnant at the time of the offense and the offender knew or…
Authorities Cited
- Parker v. State, 408 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 1982)
- Fouts v. State, 374 So. 2d 22 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
- Mellins v. State, 395 So. 2d 1207 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
- Cary Michael Lambrix v. State, 534 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 1988)