Opinion

Brown v. State

  • 10 Fla. L. Weekly 389
  • 467 So. 2d 323
Court
District Court of Appeal of Florida
Filed
Feb 13, 1985
Status
Published
On the bench
Per Curiam
Cited by
7 cases
Authority
More cited than 88.1%

court refused to instruct the jury on justifiable and excusable homicide in connection with instruction on manslaughter

How later courts described this case

  • court refused to instruct the jury on justifiable and excusable homicide in connection with instruction on manslaughter

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

467 So.2d 323 (1985)

Lucretia BROWN, Appellant,

v.

STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 84-1084.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

February 13, 1985.

*324 Sara Blumberg and Michael Dubiner of Dubiner & Blumberg, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Joan Fowler Rossin, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant seeks reversal of her conviction of second degree murder. She claims that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on justifiable and excusable homicide, and in failing to give an instruction which properly placed the burden of proof upon the State as to her insanity defense. When the court gives an instruction on manslaughter, it must also give an instruction on justifiable and excusable homicide. See Hedges v. State, 172 So.2d 824 (Fla. 1965); Pouk v. State, 359 So.2d 929 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978); Delaford v. State, 449 So.2d 983 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). Therefore, we hold that the trial court erred when it failed to properly instruct the jury, and we reverse and remand this case for a new trial. Because of this holding we need not reach appellant's second point on appeal.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

HERSEY, HURLEY and DELL, JJ., concur.

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