J. C. M. v. State, 78-1064

Decision Date12 October 1979
Docket NumberNo. 78-1064,78-1064
Citation375 So.2d 873
PartiesIn the Interest of J. C. M., a child, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Jack O. Johnson, Public Defender, Bartow and William Murphy, Asst. Public Defender, Tampa, for appellant.

Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee and C. Marie King, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

DANAHY, Judge.

In this delinquency proceeding appellant was charged with aggravated assault and found guilty of culpable negligence. He contends that his adjudication of delinquency based on that finding was improper because culpable negligence was not a lesser included offense of the crime with which he was charged. We agree and reverse.

The state's petition, the accusatory pleading in this case, charged that appellant unlawfully assaulted a named individual with a deadly weapon, an automobile, without intent to kill. Such an act constitutes aggravated assault. Section 784.021(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1977). Section 784.011 defines an assault as an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent.

The crime of culpable negligence consists of exposing another person to personal injury or inflicting actual personal injury through culpable negligence. § 784.05(1). Our supreme court has defined culpable negligence as "reckless indifference or grossly careless disregard for the safety of others." State v. Greene, 348 So.2d 3 (Fla.1977).

An accusatory pleading must apprise a defendant of all offenses of which he may be convicted. Robinson v. State, 69 Fla. 521, 68 So. 649 (1915). Thus the adjudication of delinquency in this case may not stand unless culpable negligence is a lesser included offense of the crime charged in the accusatory pleading within the rule set forth in Brown v. State, 206 So.2d 377 (Fla.1968). The bottom line of the state's argument in this case is that to operate an automobile as a deadly weapon in an assault upon a person is to operate an automobile in a culpably negligent manner as to that person; therefore, the allegation that appellant committed an assault with an automobile as a deadly weapon put appellant on notice that he could also be found guilty of culpable negligence. We find that argument without merit and hold that culpable negligence is not a...

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4 cases
  • Vazquez v. Metropolitan Dade County
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • August 13, 1992
    ...been defined by the Florida courts as "reckless indifference or grossly careless disregard for the safety of others." J.C.M. v. State, 375 So.2d 873, 873 (Fla.App.1979) (quoting State v. Greene, 348 So.2d 3, 4 (Fla.1977)). The court's instruction on culpable negligence, to which neither par......
  • State v. Simone, 82-144
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • May 24, 1983
    ...if it is subsection (1)...] I think the 'attempt to manslaughter' has been specifically covered by the Legislature."); J.C.M. v. State, 375 So.2d 873 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) (crime of culpable negligence consists of exposing another to or inflicting personal injury upon another) Furthermore, we ......
  • McDaniel v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • September 19, 1990
    ..."Culpable negligence" is defined as " 'reckless indifference or grossly careless disregard for the safety of others.' " J.C.M. v. State, 375 So.2d 873 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979), quoting State v. Greene, 348 So.2d 3 (Fla.1977). The evidence was overwhelming that appellant was culpably negligent in ......
  • State v. Shorette, 80-2095
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • October 9, 1981
    ...to the person of another. §§ 784.011, 784.021, Fla.Stat. (1979). See State v. White, 324 So.2d 630 (Fla.1975). See also J.C.M. v. State, 375 So.2d 873 (Fla.2d DCA 1979); Russell v. State, 373 So.2d 97 (Fla. 2d DCA Generally, intent is not an issue to be decided on a (c)(4) motion to dismiss......

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