Carter v. State, 84-488
| Decision Date | 22 May 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-488,84-488 |
| Citation | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 1305,469 So.2d 194 |
| Parties | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 1305 Carolyn CARTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Elliott C. Metcalfe, Jr., Public Defender, Peter A. Dubensky and Alan R. Dakan, Asst. Public Defenders, Sarasota, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Michael J. Kotler, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
By jury trial, the defendant, Carolyn Carter, was found guilty of manslaughter. She raises two issues on appeal. The first issue concerns the failure of the trial court to instruct the jury on the forcible felony aspect of the standard jury instruction on self-defense. The second issue concerns the sufficiency of the evidence as to the defendant's guilt.
The state charged appellant with second degree murder of one Charles Martin. The evidence presented at trial established that appellant fatally stabbed her boyfriend, Charles Martin, with a knife during a heated argument in appellant's home. Earlier in the evening at a neighborhood tavern, appellant and the victim had engaged in an altercation over the victim's car keys. Appellant had apparently confiscated the victim's car keys because of his intoxication and in order to prevent him from driving. There was evidence that during this altercation, the victim knocked appellant to the ground and took her purse. Shortly thereafter the victim left the tavern.
Approximately two hours later the victim showed up at appellant's home and began to curse and fight with appellant. Fanny Williams, a friend of appellant, was also present in appellant's home. She saw the victim standing in the hallway of appellant's home fussing and cursing appellant, who was sitting in her bedroom crying and telling the victim to leave. A scuffle ensued with the victim attacking appellant. He relentlessly pursued her from room to room in her home, beating her with his fists and a radio swung by its cord as a weapon. According to appellant's tape recorded statement to the police, which the state subsequently played into evidence, appellant ran to the kitchen and the victim came after her pinning her against the kitchen sink. She picked up things from the sink and was throwing them at him while he was hitting her about the head and body with his fists. Finally, she grabbed something, probably a knife or a fork, and stabbed him one time. The victim then backed off and ran out the front door. A sheriff's deputy found the victim lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk fifteen feet from appellant's front door. Following the incident, appellant was taken to the emergency room of the hospital where she was treated for a deep, four-inch cut on her leg. The evidence also showed that she had bruises on her arm and back, a swollen eye, and abrasions on her face.
Appellant requested the standard jury instructions on self-defense. The trial court gave the standard instructions but refused to include the phrase "prevent the imminent commission of aggravated battery." The trial court did instruct the jury on the self-defense instruction as to "preventing imminent death or great bodily harm." Appellant objected to the instructions based on this deletion. The trial court further instructed the jury as follows:
If Carolyn Carter was attacked in her own home or on her own premises she has a duty to retreat and the lawful right to stand her ground and meet force with force even to the extent of using force likely to cause death or great bodily harm if it was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to herself.
(Emphasis supplied.)
Prior to the jury retiring to consider their verdict, the trial court further emphasized the erroneous instruction by giving the jury the following instruction.
If Carolyn Carter was attacked in her own home or on her own premises she had the duty to retreat and the lawful right to stand her ground...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Spitalieri v. Sec'y
...constitution or otherwise assert a federal argument in the presentation of this claim on his direct appeal. Id. (citing Carter v. State, 469 So. 2d 194 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Vowels v. State, 32 So. 3d 720 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010); Castillo v. State, 896 So. 2d 973 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Goode v. Sta......
-
Martinez v. State
...this court, have found that fundamental error occurs when a faulty instruction negates a defendant's sole defense. In Carter v. State, 469 So.2d 194 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), the Second District Court of Appeal reversed a manslaughter conviction after finding that a portion of the self-defense in......
-
Sloss v. State
...did not object to the instructions in open court, where error negated defendant's sole defense of entrapment); Carter v. State, 469 So.2d 194, 196 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1985) (instruction on self-defense which was incorrect and misleading and which had effect of negating defendant's only defense wa......
-
Phillips v. State
...the erroneous instruction negated defendant's sole defense, Barnes v. State, 868 So.2d 606, 607-08 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004); Carter v. State, 469 So.2d 194 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); — whether the error is one of inclusion or omission (e.g., adding an uncharged element or omitting an essential element)......