HECTOR LOPEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed defendant's manslaughter conviction, holding that the trial court properly instructed the jury on homicide defenses and excluded irrelevant evidence of the victim's drug use.
The trial court properly denied the motion for judgment of acquittal where the jury could have found the defendant shot an unarmed victim without warning following verbal abuse.
[1] Evidence of cocaine in a victim's system is properly excluded where the defendant had no knowledge of the drug use and the evidence has no bearing on the defendant's stat…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendant shot and killed an unarmed victim following the victim's verbal abuse of the defendant, without prior warning.…
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PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals his conviction for manslaughter with a firearm, section 782.07, Florida Statutes (1991).
We affirm.
The record demonstrates'that both excusable and justifiable homicide were defined for the jury.
The trial court properly denied the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal. See Demurjian v. State, 557 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 4 DCA), review denied, 569 So. 2d 1278 (Fla.1990).
According to the evidence presented by the state, the jury could have found that defendant, without prior warning, shot and killed the unarmed victim following the victim’s verbal abuse of the defendant. See Delgado v. State, 361 So. 2d 726 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978).
Evidence of cocaine in the victim’s system was properly excluded. The defendant had no knowledge of the alleged drug use, and thus the evidence had no bearing upon the defendant’s state of mind and resultant actions. Lozano v. State, 584 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), review denied, 595 So. 2d 558 (Fla.1992).
Defendant has not preserved for review the issue of whether the trial court improperly limited his right to cross-examine any state witness regarding their immigration status. Strapp v. State, 588 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991).
Accordingly, the order under review is affirmed.
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Cited By
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Minor v. State, 662 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Lopez v. State, 632 So. 2d 188 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 641 So. 2d 1345 (Fla.1994); see Gunsby v. State, 574 So. 2d 1085, 1088 (Fla.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 843, 112 S.Ct. 136, 116 L.Ed.2d 103 (1991).…
Authorities Cited
- Lozano v. State, 584 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
- Demurjian v. State, 557 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
- Adolfo Gerda Delagado v. State, 361 So. 2d 726 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)
- Strapp v. State, 588 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)