Voluntary Intoxication Defense

503 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Hopkins v. State
  721 So. 2d 1201· Fla. 4th DCA· 1998-12-02
  The court held that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to DUI manslaughter, and therefore, trial counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to present it.
• Payton v. State
  719 So. 2d 353· Fla. 1st DCA· 1998-10-12
• Helton v. State
  719 So. 2d 928· Fla. 3d DCA· 1998-09-09
  The trial court abused its discretion by unreasonably limiting defense counsel's voir dire examination, thereby denying the defendant his right to a fair and impartial jury.
• Grandison v. State
  714 So. 2d 607· Fla. 1st DCA· 1998-07-15
  The court held that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication as a defense to battery on a police officer, as there was sufficient evidence presented to support the defense.
• Brulfer v. State
  711 So. 2d 197· Fla. 5th DCA· 1998-05-15
  Jason Brulfer appealed his convictions for two counts of attempted aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed both the conviction under the lesser-included offense doctrine and the trial judge's decision to give a cur
• Redwitz v. State
  753 So. 2d 104· Fla. 2d DCA· 1998-04-17
  James Edward Redwitz was convicted of kidnapping and battery for assaulting and transporting his wife in their van while intoxicated. He appeals the trial court's handling of closing argument remarks about burden of proof regarding his voluntary intoxication defense. The appellat
• Ervin Alphonso Bartley v. State
  708 So. 2d 339· Fla. 1st DCA· 1998-04-09
• Green v. State
  705 So. 2d 700· Fla. 1st DCA· 1998-02-06
• Stanley v. State
  703 So. 2d 1156· Fla. 2d DCA· 1997-12-10
  The court held that a defendant's claim that counsel failed to advise him of the voluntary intoxication defense, where evidence of intoxication existed and the offense was a specific intent crime, is facially sufficient to warrant further review.
• Jackson v. State
  699 So. 2d 306· Fla. 1st DCA· 1997-09-18
  Joe Nathan Jackson was charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of his wife but was convicted of the lesser included offense of second degree murder. On appeal, Jackson challenged the trial court's denial of a jury instruction on voluntary intoxication, but the cour
• Wilson v. State
  696 So. 2d 957· Fla. 1st DCA· 1997-07-16
  Michael Wilson appealed the denial of his postconviction motion for ineffective assistance of counsel under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The appellate court affirmed the denial of his severance claim but reversed the rejection of his ineffective assistance claim rega
• Stevens v. State
  693 So. 2d 144· Fla. 5th DCA· 1997-05-16
  James Stevens appeals his first-degree murder conviction, arguing the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication as a defense. The court affirms, holding that Stevens' vague statements about drinking do not constitute sufficient evidence of intox
• Viktor Leschka v. State
  691 So. 2d 535· Fla. 2d DCA· 1997-04-04
  The court held that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication as a defense to aggravated battery, and this error was not harmless.
• Worden v. State
  688 So. 2d 958· Fla. 4th DCA· 1997-02-19
• E.H. v. Temp. Labor Source, Inc.
  687 So. 2d 884· Fla. 1st DCA· 1997-01-27
  E.H. appealed a denial of workers' compensation benefits based on alleged violations of Florida statutes 440.09(4) and 440.105(4)(b). The court reversed, holding that a Judge of Compensation Claims lacks authority to make section 440.105 determinations, and remanded for evaluatio
• Brown v. State
  677 So. 2d 988· Fla. 1st DCA· 1996-08-12
  Court reversed in part a summary denial of a Rule 3.850 post-conviction motion, finding that claims of ineffective assistance regarding failure to investigate defenses and allowing a guilty plea without evidentiary basis were facially sufficient and required an evidentiary hearin
• Lark v. State
  671 So. 2d 824· Fla. 1st DCA· 1996-04-09
  Appellant Lark was convicted of first degree murder and manslaughter after retrial. He challenged the trial court's refusal to remedy the state's alleged violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by interfering with his efforts to gather evidence of intoxication for his v
• Morris v. State
  670 So. 2d 1151· Fla. 1st DCA· 1996-04-01
  The court held that allegations of defense counsel's failure to investigate voluntary intoxication and other viable defenses were sufficient to withstand summary denial, requiring an evidentiary hearing.
• Davis v. State
  655 So. 2d 1142· Fla. 1st DCA· 1995-04-04
  Davis appealed a trial court's denial of his motion to withdraw a guilty plea to kidnapping and murder. On remand from a prior appeal regarding whether he knowingly waived a voluntary intoxication defense, the trial court found sufficient evidence of such a defense but concluded
• McINNIS v. State
  642 So. 2d 831· Fla. 2d DCA· 1994-09-23
  Edward Charles McInnis was convicted of aggravated battery but appeals on the ground that the trial court failed to instruct the jury on self-defense. The appellate court found the evidence supported a self-defense instruction and reversed the conviction for a new trial.
• Bias v. State
  634 So. 2d 1120· Fla. 2d DCA· 1994-04-08
  Gregory Stephen Bias appealed his conviction for first-degree murder and robbery, challenging the sufficiency of evidence and the trial court's exclusion of expert testimony about how his schizophrenia and brain damage affected his voluntary intoxication defense. The appellate co
• Rigdon v. State
  633 So. 2d 1128· Fla. 1st DCA· 1994-03-15
  The trial court did not err in refusing to allow the defense's expert psychiatrist to testify regarding the effects of the defendant's intoxication, as the testimony was not relevant to self-defense and was potentially confusing.
• Smith v. Groose
  998 F.2d 1439· 8th Cir.· 1993-07-16
  The court held that the district court did not err in denying the habeas petition because the claims were procedurally barred and the underlying issues lacked merit.
• Nethery v. Collins
  993 F.2d 1154· 5th Cir.· 1993-06-11
  The court held that the jury instructions prevented adequate consideration of mitigating evidence of voluntary intoxication, violating the Eighth Amendment.
• Wiley v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co.
  995 F.2d 457· 3d Cir.· 1993-06-03
  The court held that Pennsylvania law would infer intent to harm from acts of child molestation, precluding insurance coverage under a homeowner's policy's intentional harm exclusion.
• Royce Rigdon v. State
  621 So. 2d 475· Fla. 4th DCA· 1993-05-26
  Royce Rigdon was convicted of aggravated assault with a firearm after being charged with attempted first degree murder. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded for a new trial, finding multiple reversible errors including the trial court's failure to instruct th
• United States v. Reed
  991 F.2d 399· 7th Cir.· 1993-04-13
  The court held that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to general intent crimes, and the defendant's intoxication was not sufficiently extreme to negate the required knowledge.
• Chuck Lee Mathenia v. Delo
  975 F.2d 444· 8th Cir.· 1992-09-11
  The dissenting judge argues that the defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel due to his attorney's failure to investigate, object to, or suppress a prejudicial videotaped confession, and therefore warrants a new penalty phase hearing or sentence reduction.
• State v. Colligan
  604 So. 2d 547· Fla. 1st DCA· 1992-08-18
  The State of Florida appealed a trial court's grant of judgment of acquittal that overturned a jury's guilty verdict for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. The court reversed, holding that the state presented sufficient evidence inconsistent with the defendant's int
• Curtis v. State
  589 So. 2d 956· Fla. 3d DCA· 1991-10-29
  Christopher Curtis was convicted of attempted second-degree murder, armed burglary, and firearm possession during a felony. He appealed on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct and challenged the admission of his prior convictions used to impeach psychiatric testimony supporting hi
• Savage v. State
  588 So. 2d 975· Fla.· 1991-10-03
  James Savage appeals his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. The Florida Supreme Court affirms his conviction but vacates his death sentence, holding that the trial court improperly overrode the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment because the aggravating cir
• Robinson v. Ponte
  933 F.2d 101· 1st Cir.· 1991-05-22
  A state court's decision on whether to apply a new rule retroactively on collateral review does not raise a federal constitutional issue, even if the new rule was based on federal constitutional principles.
• Thor Bergen v. State
  552 So. 2d 262· Fla. 2d DCA· 1989-11-08
  Thor Bergen appeals his convictions for five counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts in the presence of children under section 800.04, Florida Statutes. The appellate court affirmed all convictions, rejecting arguments that the five counts should have been consolidated into
• Siler v. State
  547 So. 2d 297· Fla. 3d DCA· 1989-08-08
  Leroy Siler, a retired police officer, was convicted of armed burglary with intent to commit assault with a firearm and aggravated assault with a firearm after confronting his estranged wife at her mother's house while armed. On appeal, Siler challenged the trial court's evidenti
• T.J. Hayes v. A.L. Lockhart
  869 F.2d 358· 8th Cir.· 1989-02-07
  The court held that the defendant's counsel was ineffective for failing to present mitigating evidence and failing to object to prosecutorial misconduct, which prejudiced the defendant's sentencing.
• United States v. Sylvan George Beautiful Bald Eagle
  849 F.2d 361· 8th Cir.· 1988-06-20
  The court held that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to involuntary manslaughter and that the supplemental jury instruction was adequate.
• Gonzales v. State
  488 So. 2d 610· Fla. 4th DCA· 1986-05-07
  The court affirmed convictions on counts I, II, III, and VI but reversed count V (resisting arrest with violence) because the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the effect of voluntary intoxication on specific intent, and remanded for correction of a sentencing discrepanc
• Bridges v. State
  466 So. 2d 348· Fla. 4th DCA· 1985-03-06
  Defendant's conviction for aggravated assault was reversed due to ineffective assistance of counsel where trial counsel failed to pursue a voluntary intoxication defense despite evidence of substantial intoxication.
• Atkins v. State
  452 So. 2d 529· Fla.· 1984-06-07
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Atkins' conviction for first-degree murder and kidnapping but vacated his death sentence because the trial court improperly relied on a sexual battery aggravating circumstance that lacked independent corroboration. The court remanded for resente
• Edwards v. State
  443 So. 2d 306· Fla. 3d DCA· 1983-12-27
  Edwards appeals the denial of his post-conviction motion for ineffective assistance of counsel, claiming his attorney failed to request a voluntary intoxication instruction. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's denial, finding no ineffective assistance because Edwards's
• Gandy v. State
  440 So. 2d 432· Fla. 1st DCA· 1983-10-21
  The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defendant's requests to introduce further evidence of intoxication or to continue the trial.
• Reynolds v. State
  438 So. 2d 190· Fla. 1st DCA· 1983-09-26
  Reynolds appealed his aggravated battery conviction, arguing the trial court erred by refusing to reininstruct the jury on voluntary intoxication and self-defense after reinstructing on the offense and lesser included offenses. The court affirmed, holding that reinstructions on d
• Gentry v. State
  437 So. 2d 1097· Fla.· 1983-09-01
  The court reviewed a district court opinion holding that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to attempted second-degree murder, examining whether all attempts are specific intent crimes.
• Link v. State
  429 So. 2d 836· Fla. 3d DCA· 1983-04-19
  Mark Steven Link appealed his theft conviction, arguing he should have received a jury instruction on voluntary intoxication as a defense. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed his conviction, holding that while voluntary intoxication is a defense to theft (a specific int
• In the Interest of J.D.Z.
  382 So. 2d 1351· Fla. 4th DCA· 1980-04-30
  A juvenile was adjudicated delinquent for burglary after being found intoxicated inside a neighbor's home. The appellate court reversed, finding the evidence of specific intent to steal was insufficient because the defendant's overwhelming intoxication rebutted any statutory pres
• Butler v. State
  349 So. 2d 665· Fla. 4th DCA· 1977-08-09
• Perryman v. State
  242 So. 2d 762· Fla. 1st DCA· 1971-01-07
  Appellant challenges a license suspension imposed for refusing a breath test for alcohol content. The court affirms, holding that a voluntarily intoxicated driver cannot use intoxication as an excuse to refuse the chemical test required under Florida's implied consent law.
• Pierce v. Turner
  402 F.2d 109· 10th Cir.· 1968-10-30
  The court held that the M'Naghten test for insanity and the state's jury instructions on voluntary intoxication, as applied to toluene use, did not violate due process.
• Bradney v. State
  197 So. 2d 299· Fla.· 1967-04-07
• Jones v. United States
  175 F.2d 544· 9th Cir.· 1949-06-20
  The court held that an instruction defining deliberation and premeditation as potentially instantaneous or requiring no appreciable time constituted plain error, depriving the defendant of a fair trial.