Tunsil v. State, 75--996
| Decision Date | 26 October 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75--996,75--996 |
| Citation | 338 So.2d 874 |
| Parties | Douglas TUNSIL, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Hirschhorn & Freeman, Miami, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Ira N. Loewy, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before BARKDULL, C.J., and PEARSON and HENDRY, JJ.
Appellant, defendant below, appeals from a final judgment of conviction and sentence entered by the trial judge after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter pursuant to Section 782.07, Florida Statutes (1973) and sentenced him to ten years incarceration, five years being withheld with five years probation.
Appellant was charged in an information with manslaughter in the death of one John Romer. On April 27, 1975, appellant was parked on the street in front of a local 'hangout.' Appellant contends that, while his friend approached the parked auto, an unidentified man jumped in appellant's car, brandishing a gun, and ordered him to, 'Get me out of here.'
Appellant further contends that, while speeding away, he eyed a police vehicle in his rear view mirror and, hoping to catch the police officer's attention, made an illegal turn and continued racing past several stop signs. A high speed chase ensued climaxed by the appellant striking the victim's auto. The alleged third passenger in the car, the man with the gun, escaped, eluding the police. After the accident, appellant and his friend were arrested.
The victim, John Romer, was subsequently taken to a hospital in a coma. There, as a result of his comatose state, the victim developed pneumonia. Two days before his death, he was visited by a resident physician at the hospital. By a physical examination, the physician found evidence of pulmonary infection in both of the victim's lungs. The doctor, however, refrained from giving the victim any medication 'until feasable.' He returned two days later to pronounce the victim dead.
During the trial, the Assistant Medical Examiner for Dade County testified that the autopsy showed 'contusions or a direct injury to the brain itself.' The Medical Examiner further testified that the victim's immediate cause of death was pneumonia brought on by the head injuries.
Appellant took the stand in his own defense offering his exculpatory version of the events. However, the arresting officers testified that, upon appellant's arrest, no such story of a gun-wielding commando was ever communicated to them. At the end of the trial, a...
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Hallman v. State
...afford the defendant no protection against the charge of unlawful homicide. . . . And as the district court stated in Tunsil v. State, 338 So.2d 874, 875 (Fla.3d DCA 1976): Appellant seeks a reversal of his conviction for manslaughter on the grounds that the victim's death could have been a......
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Rose v. State
...4th DCA 1989); Barnes v. State, 528 So.2d 69 (Fla. 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 dea......
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Barnes v. State, 4-86-2795
...death, is of no avail. Appellant started the stream of events and should be held responsible for its meanderings. In Tunsil v. State, 338 So.2d 874 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), the court held that the alleged lack of affirmative medical treatment of the victim, whose initial injury was proximately c......
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State v. Smith
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