DANNY R. LOONEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2000-04-26
No. 98-04226
THREADGILL, A.C.J., and FULMER, J., Concur.
756 So. 2d 239 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2000) Negative Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Danny Looney appeals his manslaughter conviction, arguing the trial court erred by deviating from standard jury instructions on manslaughter and instructing on culpable negligence without clearly distinguishing it from manslaughter by act. The appellate court agrees and reverses, finding the charging document was ambiguous and the jury instructions were fundamentally deficient.


Holding

The trial court erred by modifying standard jury instructions and giving a culpable negligence instruction without clearly distinguishing between types of manslaughter. The charging document was ambiguous because it did not allege the essential element of intent to cause death required for manslaughter by act, making it unclear whether the jury convicted Looney of a charge not made in the information. This was fundamental error denying Looney a fair trial.


Headnotes

[1] A conviction on a charge not made by the State's charging document violates due process.

[2] An information charging manslaughter by act must allege the essential element of intent to cause death.

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Key Quotes

“It is well-settled that a conviction on a charge not made by the State's charging document is a denial of due process of law.”

Establishes that the charging document must clearly specify the charge, violation of which requires reversal

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Facts & Procedural History

Looney was charged with killing Marlene Grenier by striking her, causing wounds and injuries that resulted in her death. The state's information alleg…

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Opinion of the Court
DAVIS, Judge.

DAVIS, Judge.

Danny Looney appeals his manslaughter conviction. He argues that the trial court erred by deviating from the standard jury instruction on manslaughter and by instructing the jury on the definition of culpable negligence. We agree and also find error in the State’s charging document. Accordingly, we reverse.

Subsection 782.07(1), Florida Statutes (1995), defines manslaughter as, “The killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, without lawful justification according to the provisions of chapter 776 and in cases in which such killing shall not be excusable homicide or murder....” In Taylor v. State, 444 So. 2d 931 (Fla.1983), the Florida Supreme Court distinguished manslaughter by act or procurement from manslaughter by culpable negligence. The former two require an intent to cause death, while the latter does not. See id. at 934. The Taylor court noted that this difference is rooted in the common law distinction between voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. See id. at 934.

It is well-settled that a conviction on a charge not made by the State’s charging document is a denial of due process of law. See Velasquez v. State, 654 So. 2d 1227, 1228 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). In this case, the State filed an information charging Looney with the death of Marlene Grenier. Specifically, the information alleged that Looney “did, unlawfully, by his intentional act, kill Marlene Grenier, a human being, by striking her and , causing her to receive wounds or injuries which resulted in her death.... ” Although this language seemingly charges manslaughter by act, it does not necessarily exclude a charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence. At best, the charging document was ambiguous. Similarly, the verdict form does not delineate whether the jury found Looney guilty of manslaughter by act or by culpable negligence. Because the information does not allege the essential element of intent to cause death for manslaughter by act, and thus we cannot determine whether the jury convicted Looney of a charge not made in the information, we must reverse Looney’s conviction.

Turning to Looney’s contention that the tidal court erred in its instructions to the jury, we note that Looney disputed the issue of intent at trial. At the conclusion of the trial, the trial court instructed the jury as follows: “Before you can find the defendant guilty of manslaughter, the state has to prove the following two elements beyond a reasonable doubt: One, is that Marlene Grenier-is dead. Two, the death was caused by the act of Danny R. Looney.” The trial court went on to give the standard jury instruction defining culpable negligence.

We hold that the trial court erred in modifying the standard jury instructions, which clearly delineate between the types of manslaughter, and in giving the definition of culpable negligence. These instructions, like the information, do not identify clearly whether Looney is charged with manslaughter by act or by culpable negligence. In fact, the instructions as given essentially suggest that Looney is strictly liable for the death of Grenier. This error was of such a nature that we cannot say it did not mislead the jury in their deliberations. Although Looney did not offer a contemporaneous objection to the instructions, we conclude that the error was fundamental and denied Looney a fair trial. See State v. Delva, 575 So. 2d 643, 644-45 (Fla.1991) (fundamental error for trial court to omit instruction on disputed material element of-crime). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

THREADGILL, A.C.J., and FULMER, J., Concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Hall v. State, 951 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)
    …to cause an unintentional death. This logic does not apply to the offense of manslaughter by act. Of course, if our holding today is erroneous, this opinion will necessarily conflict with Taylor. We are aware that our decisions in Looney v. State, 756 So. 2d 239 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), and Jefferies v. State, 849 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), contain some language interpreting Taylor that could be construed to support Hall’s argument. While those cases do not address the precise issue at hand, we recede from L…
  • Jefferies v. State, 849 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
    …t constitute manslaughter by culpable negligence are (1) the fact of the death and (2) a causative link between the death and the culpable negligence of the defendant.3 State v. [*404] Richards, 639 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). In Looney v. State, 756 So. 2d 239, 240 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), we noted that the Florida Supreme Court distinguished manslaughter by act or procurement from manslaughter by culpable negligence. Manslaughter by act or procurement requires an intent to cause death while manslaughter by cu…
  • Elpido A. Ayala v. State, 879 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
    …ve assistance of appellate counsel. He argues that his appellate counsel should have raised as error the trial court’s “merging of the voluntary and involuntary manslaughter instructions,” which he claims was fundamental error under Looney v. State, 756 So. 2d 239 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). In Looney, this court reviewed a case in which manslaughter was the charged offense. The information alleged manslaughter by act and did not allege manslaughter by culpable negligence. Looney, 756 So. 2d at 240. The trial court…

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