WALTER LEE BROOKS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that testimony regarding the extent of victim's injuries was admissible and that a kitchen knife can be considered a deadly weapon.
Brooks was convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after arguing with the victim, retrieving a kitchen knife, and using it to injure her.…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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HARRIS, J.
Brooks challenges his conviction for aggravated battery by the use of a deadly weapon on two grounds. First, he contends it was error to permit testimony concerning the extent of the victim’s injuries since he was charged with the use of a deadly weapon and not with causing serious bodily harm. Second, he urges that a “mere kitchen knife” is not a deadly weapon.
The challenged evidence revealed that after Brooks argued with the victim, he retrieved a wooden-handled knife from the kitchen. He choked the victim with his left hand while holding the knife against her neck with his right hand. He smashed the victim’s head against the padlock of the door and “skinned” her with the knife. He placed the knife at the victim’s side, ripping her shirt. The injuries suffered by the victim as testified to at trial may or may not have constituted sufficient injuries in and of themselves to constitute aggravated battery. The State did not rely on such injuries in its charging document. Such testimony is admissible, however, if it is otherwise relevant. T.B. v. State, 669 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). Here, the evidence was relevant to corroborate that a battery took place and that a knife was used in that battery.
The wooden-handled kitchen knife was entered into evidence and displayed to the jury. The jury was properly instructed as to the definition of a “deadly weapon” and determined that the knife in evidence was one. Based on the facts of this case, the jury’s determination is warranted by the record.
AFFIRMED.
COBB and PETERSON, JJ., concur.
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Brown v. State, 86 So. 3d 569 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)…, 703 So. 2d 1045, 1047 (Fla.1997) (“In the present case, the jury had a sufficient basis for concluding that Dale’s weapon was deadly. Of key importance is the fact that the jury had an opportunity to view the weapon first-hand.”); Brooks v. State, 726 So. 2d 341, 342 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (“The wooden-handled kitchen knife was entered into evidence and displayed to the jury. The jury was properly instructed as to the definition of a ‘deadly weapon’ and determined that the knife in evidence was one. Based on t…
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Madison v. State (9th Cir. Ct. App. Div. 2015)…DCA 2004). It cannot be said as a matter of law based on the charging documents alone that the kitchen knife and CO2 gun allegedly carried by Appellant were not weapons. Juries have found kitchen knives and air guns to be weapons. Brooks v. State, 726 So. 2d 341, 342 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (kitchen knife as deadly weapon); Miller v. State, 421 So. 2d 746, 747 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982) (knife as a dirk); Goodwin v. State, 68 So. 3d 309. 309 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (BB gun as deadly weapon). Dale, 703 So. 2d at 1047 (Fla…
Authorities Cited
- T.B. v. State, 669 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)