FRANK SALONKO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2014-06-23
No. 1D08-4879
LEWIS, C.J., WETHERELL and RAY, JJ., concur.
162 So. 3d 40 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2014) Caution
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Frank Salonko was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated assault after shooting his former boss's uncle. On remand following Florida Supreme Court directive, the First District Court of Appeal reversed the murder conviction due to a fundamental error in jury instructions regarding manslaughter by act, but affirmed the aggravated assault conviction.


Holding

The erroneous manslaughter by act instruction constituted fundamental error, and because the trial evidence did not reasonably support a finding of culpable negligence manslaughter, Appellant was entitled to a new trial on the second-degree murder charge. The aggravated assault conviction was affirmed.


Headnotes

[1] Giving an erroneous jury instruction on manslaughter by act constitutes fundamental error when the evidence does not reasonably support a finding of culpable negligence m…

[2] An erroneous manslaughter by act jury instruction is not cured by also instructing the jury on culpable negligence manslaughter if the defendant is convicted of an offens…

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Key Quotes

“the crime of manslaughter by act does not require the State to prove that a defendant intended to kill the victim”

Establishes the fundamental legal principle that distinguishes manslaughter by act from second-degree murder and explains why the jury instruction was erroneous.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant had a heated telephone conversation with his former boss, then brought a firearm to the former employer's jobsite and shot in the direction …

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

ON REMAND

PER CURIAM.

In accordance with the Florida Supreme Court’s directive in Salonko v. *41 State, No. SC10-842, 2014 WL 628408, at *1 (Fla. Feb. 17, 2014), we have reconsidered this case pursuant to Haygood v. State, 109 So.3d 735 (Fla.2013). Upon doing so, we reverse Appellant’s conviction and sentence for second-degree murder and remand for a new trial. We affirm Appellant’s conviction and sentence for aggravated assault without further comment.

In State v. Montgomery, 39 So.3d 252, 254 (Fla.2010), the Florida Supreme Court held that the crime of manslaughter by act does not require the State to prove that a defendant intended to kill the victim and that giving the standard jury instruction on manslaughter, which required that the State prove the defendant’s intent to kill the victim, constituted fundamental error in the case before it. In Haygood v. State, 109 So.3d 735, 743 (Fla.2013), the Florida Supreme Court held that giving the erroneous manslaughter by act instruction is not cured by also instructing the jury on culpable negligence manslaughter where the defendant is convicted of an offense not more than one step removed from manslaughter and the evidence supports a finding of manslaughter by act but does not reasonably support a finding that the death occurred due to the defendant’s culpable negligence.

In reconsidering this case, we hold that the erroneous manslaughter by act instruction constituted fundamental error. The State presented evidence at trial that Appellant, after having what was described as a heated telephone conversation with his former boss, brought a firearm to his former employer’s jobsite and shot in the direction of the former boss’s uncle after the uncle put himself in between Appellant and his former boss. This evidence did not reasonably support a finding that the victim’s death was caused by Appellant’s culpable negligence. See De La Hoz v. Crews, 123 So.3d 101, 103 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013) (holding that because the evidence in the case did not support a theory of culpable negligence manslaughter, the appellant, who was convicted of second-degree murder, was entitled to a new trial pursuant to Haygood); De La Hoz v. State, 997 So.2d 1198, 1199 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (noting that the appellant, the victim’s former boss, shot the victim during a physical altercation). Cf. Tillman v. State, 842 So.2d 922, 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (noting that culpable negligence is more than a failure to use ordinary care and is instead a course of conduct showing reckless disregard of human life or the safety of others and concluding that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to prove manslaughter -with a firearm where the appellant, who had served in the army, was trained in the use of various firearms, and knew that a basic rule of gun safety required that all guns be treated as if they are loaded, admitted to pulling back and releasing the gun’s hammer while sitting very close to the victim and while playing with the victim’s gun); Berry v. State, 547 So.2d 969, 972 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (holding that the evidence at trial supported the manslaughter conviction by demonstrating culpable negligence where the appellant, who was playing with guns, pointed one of them at the victim and pulled the trigger with the belief that the gun was unloaded).

Accordingly, we AFFIRM Appellant’s conviction and sentence for aggravated assault, REVERSE Appellant’s conviction and sentence for second-degree murder and REMAND for a new trial.

LEWIS, C.J., WETHERELL and RAY, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Castro Guerra, 215 So. 3d 134 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)
    …rsed and remanded for new trial in Cubelo v. State, 137 So. 3d 1193 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014). . Quashed by the Florida Supreme Court in Salonko v. State, 137 So. 3d 1022 (Fla. 2014) and, on remand, reversed and remanded for new trial in Salonko v. State, 162 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). . We note, parenthetically, that during the pendency of this appeal, Guerra filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court seeking [*135] belated discretionary review and habeas corpus relief. See Guerra v. State, No. SC 14-20…

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