KRISTOPHER SANDERS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Kristopher Sanders was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm for shooting Tyrie Gunn. The appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, finding that the trial court committed fundamental error by instructing the jury on manslaughter by act using an outdated instruction requiring proof of intent to cause death, without also instructing on the alternative lesser-included offense of manslaughter by culpable negligence.
The trial court committed fundamental error requiring reversal. The erroneous manslaughter by act instruction constituted fundamental error because the jury was not instructed on manslaughter by culpable negligence as an alternative lesser-included offense, depriving the defendant of a meaningful lesser-included offense instruction.
[1] A jury instruction on manslaughter by act is defective if it requires proof of an intent to kill when the law only requires proof that the defendant intended to commit an…
[2] An erroneous jury instruction on a lesser-included offense constitutes fundamental error requiring reversal when the jury was not also instructed on a different form of t…
Previewing 2 of 4 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 court instructed that in order to convict Sanders of manslaughter, the State was required to prove that Sanders "intentionally caused" the victim's death”
Describes the defective jury instruction that required proof of intent to cause death rather than merely intent to commit the act
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSanders was charged with second-degree murder following the shooting death of Tyrie Gunn. At trial, the court instructed the jury on second-degree mur…
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Kristopher Sanders appeals his conviction for second-degree murder with a firearm. We find merit only in his argument that the trial court fundamentally erred when instructing the jury on the lesser-included offense of manslaughter by act. State v. Montgomery, 39 So.3d 252 (Fla.2010), mandates reversal.
The State charged Sanders with second-degree murder following the shooting death of Tyrie Gunn. At the conclusion of trial, the court instructed the jury on second-degree murder and on manslaughter by act, a category one lesser-included offense of the murder charge. The court instructed that in order to convict Sanders of manslaughter, the State was required to prove that Sanders “intentionally caused” the victim’s death. There was no objection to this instruction despite the fact that at the time of Sanders’ trial, the standard jury instruction on manslaughter by act had been amended to clarify that a conviction for manslaughter by act did not require an intent to kill but “only an intent to commit an act which caused [the victim’s] death.” See In re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases-Report No. 2007-10, 997 So.2d 403, 403 (Fla.2008).1 The jury was not instructed on manslaughter by culpable negligence.
On appeal, Sanders, citing Montgomery, argues that the manslaughter by act in*1101struction was defective and that its use constituted fundamental error. We agree that Montgomery is controlling. Here, the trial court gave the same manslaughter jury instruction that was given in Montgomery. As in Montgomery, the jury was not instructed on manslaughter by culpable negligence. See Barros-Dias v. State, 41 So.3d 370 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (holding that giving the erroneous manslaughter by act instruction did not constitute fundamental error when the jury was also instructed on manslaughter by culpable negligence). We therefore reverse Sanders’ second-degree murder conviction, vacate his sentence, and remand for a new trial. See Stoddard v. State, — So.3d —, 2011 WL 3760863 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011); Carter v. State, 53 So.3d 1248 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011); Walker v. State, 46 So.3d 160 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).
Reversed and remanded.
WHATLEY and DAVIS, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. Montgomery, 39 So. 3d 252 (Fla. 2010)
- In re Standard Jury Instructions IN Crim. Cases-Report NO. 2007-10, 997 So. 2d 403 (Fla. 2008)
- In re Amendments TO Standard Jury Instructions IN Crim. Cases - Instruction 7.7, 41 So. 3d 853 (Fla. 2010)
- Fagner Barros-Dias v. State, 41 So. 3d 370 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)
- Carter v. State, 53 So. 3d 1248 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011)
- Walker v. State, 46 So. 3d 160 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)