JAMES D. MELVIN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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James Melvin appeals his DUI manslaughter conviction and sentence. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirms the conviction but remands for modification of the probation order to delete a drug testing payment requirement, and also addresses two evidentiary issues on appeal.
The court affirmed the conviction, finding no error in denying the requested jury instruction because the standard instruction adequately requires proof of causation, and finding that while HGN testimony was erroneously admitted without proper scientific predicates, the error was harmless given other substantial evidence of impairment including the .20 blood alcohol level.
[1] A conviction for DUI manslaughter requires proof that the defendant operated a vehicle, that the operation caused or contributed to the victim's death, and that the defen…
[2] The standard jury instruction for DUI manslaughter adequately conveys the element of causation without needing to explicitly define it as "lack of care."
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“the statute does not say that the operator of the vehicle must be the sole cause of the fatal accident. Moreover, the state is not required to prove that the operator's drinking caused the accident. The statute requires only that the operation of the vehicle should have caused the accident. Therefore, any deviation or lack of care on the part of a driver under the influence to which the fatal accident can be attributed will suffice.”
Establishes the legal standard for DUI manslaughter causation under Magaw v. State, requiring proof of negligence as a contributing cause of death rather than sole causation.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMelvin's van turned in front of an oncoming vehicle at an intersection, resulting in a fatal collision. Witnesses testified the traffic signal facing …
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STONE, Judge.
Melvin appeals a DUI manslaughter judgment and sentence. We affirm Melvin’s conviction, but remand in accordance with our decision in Catholic v. State, 632 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), so that the court may delete a provision in the order of probation requiring Melvin to pay for drug testing. See also Kirkland v. State, 666 So. 2d 974 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Cumbie v., State, 597 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992).
The victim died from injuries incurred in an automobile collision in which Appellant’s van turned in front of the victim’s oncoming vehicle. Witnesses testified that a traffic signal facing the oncoming car was green. Appellant claimed that he had a left turn arrow. The accident occurred at 9:00 p.m. There was evidence that Appellant was intoxicated.
We comment only on two points on appeal, the denial of a requested jury instruction and the admission of testimony by the on-scene investigator regarding a method of alcohol and impairment detection known as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test.
The standard instruction for the charge of DUI manslaughter reads as follows:
Before you can find the defendant guilt of DUI Manslaughter, the State must prove the following three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. (Defendant) operated a vehicle.
2. (Defendant), by reason of such operation, caused or contributed to the cause of death of the (victim).
3. At the time of such operation (defendant) a. [was under the influence of [alcoholic beverages] ... to the extent that [his] ... normal faculties were impaired.]
b. [had a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent or higher.]
Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Crim.) 71.
Melvin proposed, based on his interpretation of Magaw v. State, 537 So. 2d 564 (Fla.1989), the following modification to part 2 of the standard instruction:
2. (Defendant), by reason of such operation, caused a collision by deviation or lack of care, which was a cause of the death of (victim).
This request was denied.
In Magaw, the supreme court discussed the 1986 change in section 316.1931, Florida Statutes, governing DUI manslaughter. Pri-or to 1986, DUI manslaughter was a “strict liability” crime, requiring proof only of intoxication and death, with no required showing of causation between the death and the method of operation of the defendant’s vehicle. Id. at 565-66. The 1986 amendment to the statute added the element of causation. Id. at 567. However, the supreme court cautioned in Magaw that:
the statute does not say that the operator of the vehicle must be the sole cause of the fatal accident. Moreover, the state is not required to prove that the operator’s drinking caused the accident. The statute requires only that the operation of the vehicle should have caused the accident. Therefore, any deviation or lack of care on the part of a driver under the influence to which the fatal accident can be attributed will suffice.
Id. at 567. The standard instruction was amended in 1992 to its present form and Magaw is cited as a reference to that instruction.
Magaw has been interpreted as recognizing that for DUI manslaughter, the state must prove that the defendant was negligent and that this negligence was a contributing cause of the death. See Foster v. State, 603 So. 2d 1312 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), rev. denied, 613 So. 2d 4 (Fla.1993); Parker v. State, 590 So. 2d 1027 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), rev. denied, 599 So. 2d 1279 (Fla.1992). In Murphy v. State, 578 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), disapproved on other grounds, State v. Chapman, 625 So. 2d 838 (Fla.1993), we recognized, distinguishing DUI manslaughter from vehicular homicide, that DUI manslaughter “requires proof of simple negligence while operating an automobile under the influence of alcohol.” Id. at 411, citing Magaw.
We, nevertheless, find no error in the court’s denial of the requested instruction. The standard jury instruction for DUI manslaughter requires a finding that by reason of operation of the vehicle, Melvin caused or contributed to the victim’s death. Explicit in this instruction is a determination by the jury of causation — Melvin had to cause the death by reason of his operation of his vehicle. Although in Magaw the court elaborated on the meaning of the term “caused,” we do not construe that opinion as requiring that the standard instruction be broadened to specify lack of care as a distinct element. For example, based on the standard instruction, if the jury concluded that someone else had caused the death, perhaps another driver, Melvin would be found not guilty. Similarly, if the death was the result of factors beyond Melvin’s control, he would be not guilty. Either of these scenarios, not involved here, would preclude a finding of causation and result in a defendant’s acquittal as a defendant may be convicted only on proof of causation. We have considered Melvin’s argument in reliance on the First District’s decision in Foster, 603 So. 2d at 1312. However, in Foster, the court did not hold the DUI manslaughter instruction to be per se misleading, nor did it mandate the use of an alternative instruction.
Appellant’s second point is the admission of the investigating officer’s testimony about the HGN test performed on Melvin. Over Appellant’s objection, Officer Watts testified, based on 20 hours of training in 1985 plus a follow-up course a year later, about the HGN test and the physiological cause of the eye movement evaluated during the test. Watts stated that he believed Melvin was impaired. Watts also testified that based on his observations, and after smelling alcohol on Melvin’s breath, he instructed the paramedic on the scene to draw blood from Melvin for a blood alcohol test. Analysis of this sample showed a blood alcohol level of .20. In State v. Meador, 674 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996), this court concluded that HGN tests are not admissible as evidence until the traditional predicates of scientific evidence are satisfied. On this basis, in the instant case, it was error to admit Watts’ HGN testimony. Watts, as a police officer with special training but without scientific expertise, could not provide the necessary predicate. Nevertheless, based on other evidence of impairment, including the Appellant’s blood alcohol level of .20, the evidence that his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, and testimony that his demeanor was consistent with intoxication, we find that this error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986).
SHAHOOD, J., and RAMIREZ, JUAN, Jr., Associate Judge, concur.
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State v. Van Hubbard, 751 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 1999)…would understand that implicit in this causation requirement is the fact that the defen [*569] dant’s manner of operation caused or contributed to cause the accident.33 Both the majority opinion and the Fourth District’s opinion in Melvin v. State, 677 So. 2d 1317 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996), apparently agree that there must have been something about the defendant’s driving that caused the accident. As the Fourth District observed in Melvin: For example, based on the standard instruction, if the jury concluded that…1 / 2
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Kimberli Jordan v. State, 707 So. 2d 816 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…rotary. Inability of the eyes to maintain visual fixation, as they are turned from side to side is known as horizontal gaze nystagmus. See State v. Meador, 674 So. 2d 826, 835 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 686 So. 2d 580 (Fla.1996); Melvin v. State, 677 So. 2d 1317 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).…
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Robinson v. State, 982 So. 2d 1260 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)…armless. But see Goodwin v. State, 751 So. 2d 537, 546 (Fla.1999); State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129, 1138-39 (Fla.1986). The State points to other incriminating evidence in the record4 and attempts to analogize the present case to Melvin v. State, 677 So. 2d 1317, 1318-19 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996) (holding admission of HGN testimony error where witness was “a police officer with special training but without scientific expertise,” while concluding the error was harmless “based on other evidence of impairment, inclu…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. DiGUILIO, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1986)
- Magaw v. State, 537 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 1989)
- State v. Chapman, 625 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 1993)
- Cumbie v. State, 597 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- State v. Meador, 674 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Catholic v. State, 632 So. 2d 272 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
- Murphy v. State, 578 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Foster v. State, 603 So. 2d 1312 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
- Kirkland v. State, 666 So. 2d 974 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)
- Parker v. State, 590 So. 2d 1027 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)