Karl v. State
| Decision Date | 25 September 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 61-800,61-800 |
| Citation | 144 So.2d 869 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Jan Ellis KARL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Michael F. Zarowny and L. J. Cushman, Miami, for appellant.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and Herbert P. Benn, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before PEARSON, TILLMAN, C. J., and CARROLL and HENDRY, JJ.
The appellant was informed against and tried for the crime of murder in the second degree, following death of his 17-month old step-son which resulted from a blow or blows administered by appellant. The trial judge withdrew the second degree murder charge from jury consideration and submitted the case on manslaughter. A verdict was returned against the defendant. He was adjudged guilty and sentenced to six months to ten years confinement.
The principal issue on this appeal is the contention by the accused that his act of striking or pushing the child, though it resulted in skull fracture and other injuries from which the child died, was not of sufficient character and gravity to establish or support the conviction of manslaughter. Secondary issues raised are whether his liability was rendered remote by an intervening cause represented by the child being allowed to remain in the emergency room of the hospital for some two and one-half hours before being treated and operated on; and whether it was prejudicial error to admit photographs disclosing bruises on the child's face or head when there was evidence they were inflicted prior to the day named in the information.
Although the appellant contends the evidence showed only a single push of the child by him which resulted in its head striking the wall, there was evidence from which the jury could have found the child was beaten on the day in question, and that such beating was the proximate cause of the death. 1 The remaining questions presented have been examined in the light of the briefs and arguments and are found to be without merit.
Affirmed.
1 As to the effect of delay in treating the child see Johnson v. State, 64 Fla. 321, 59 So. 894, 895; 16 Fla.Jur. Homicide §§ 27-28; Perkins, Criminal Law 613-614 (1957). See also Brinson v. State, 144 Fla. 228, 198 So. 15; Berry v. State, 114 Fla. 73, 153 So. 507, 509.
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Wright v. State
...standing by itself, could not sustain her murder conviction. J.A.C. v. State, 374 So.2d 606 (Fla.3d DCA 1979). Accord, Karl v. State, 144 So.2d 869 (Fla.3d DCA 1962). Wright's argument overlooks that because she acted in concert with another person, she is responsible, not merely for her ow......
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Baker v. State
...(1977). Thompson v. State, 108 Fla. 370, 146 So. 201 (1933); Tegethoff v. State, 220 So.2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969); Karl v. State, 144 So.2d 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962). He concludes, therefore, that to permit a manslaughter conviction under section 860.01 without proof of causation is a denial ......
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Rose v. State
...4th DCA 1988); State v. Smith, 496 So.2d 195 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Tunsil v. State, 338 So.2d 874 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976); Karl v. State, 144 So.2d 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962). In State v. Smith, the Third District held that a claim that a victim's death was caused by a hospital's negligence after the ......
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Cunningham v. State, 79-1628
...for an event. This court has twice employed the doctrine of proximate cause in cases of criminal homicide. In Karl v. State, 144 So.2d 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962), the appellant's conviction for the manslaughter of his young step-son was affirmed, on the basis that a reasonable jury could have f......