Tyus v. State, No. 1D02-0343.

• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
• Writing for the Court: LEWIS, J.
• Citation: 845 So.2d 318
• Parties: Albert TYUS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Decision Date: 20 May 2003
• Docket Number: No. 1D02-0343.

845 So.2d 318

Albert TYUS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee

No. 1D02-0343.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

May 20, 2003.

845 So.2d 319

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender; Leonard Holton, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant

Charlie Crist, Attorney General; Felicia A. Wilcox, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

LEWIS, J.

Appellant, Albert Tyus, appeals from his conviction for manslaughter. Appellant contends that his act of burglarizing an elderly woman's residence did not constitute the legal cause of the resident's death by fatal cardiac dysrhythmia and that the trial court therefore erred in denying his Motion for Judgment of Acquittal. Because the State presented legally sufficient evidence during the trial to support each element of manslaughter, including the legal causation element, we affirm appellant's conviction for manslaughter. We affirm as to appellant's second issue on appeal without further discussion.

On February 6, 2001, appellant walked to the front of the residence of an elderly woman ("victim"), picked up a chair from the front porch, and broke the window panes in the front door. Upon breaking the glass, appellant saw the victim fall as

845 So.2d 320

she was walking towards her back door and heard her scream. Appellant proceeded through the front door, walked to the victim's purse, and took twenty-five dollars and the victim's car keys from inside the purse. Appellant then drove to a separate residence to purchase crack cocaine. Thereafter, appellant returned the victim's vehicle to her garage, walked through the back door of the residence, placed the keys back into the victim's purse, and tried to revive the victim to no avail

After matching the DNA profile of the blood found on the front door curtains and inside the vehicle to that of appellant's DNA profile and after obtaining appellant's confession, the State charged appellant with first-degree felony murder, burglary of a dwelling, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. Appellant pled not guilty as to the felony-murder and grand theft counts and nolo contendere as to the burglary count. During the trial, the victim's internist opined that the victim died of an arrhythmia related to heart disease. According to the internist, the stress and excitement brought on by being surprised by an intruder could have caused the condition. The forensic pathologist who conducted the victim's autopsy opined that the cause of the victim's death was atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease with the contributing factor of stress due to a burglary that caused a fatal cardiac dysrhythmia. The pathologist further testified that the manner of the victim's death was a homicide; the victim suffered from a natural condition aggravated by stresses that were due to an unnatural event, the burglary, which led to an unnatural death.

After the State rested its case, appellant moved for a judgment of acquittal as to the felony murder and grand theft counts. Appellant also asserted that the State had not proven the elements of second-degree murder or manslaughter, two lesser included offenses of first-degree felony murder. The trial court denied appellant's motion. After electing not to call any witnesses, appellant timely renewed his motion, which the trial court again denied. Following jury deliberations, the jury found appellant guilty of manslaughter and grand theft. The trial court sentenced appellant to consecutive sentences of fifteen years on the manslaughter and burglary counts and five years on the grand theft count. This appeal followed.

Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his Motion for Judgment of Acquittal as the State did not present legally sufficient evidence to prove that appellant's act of burglarizing the victim's home constituted the legal cause of the victim's death. We review a trial court's ruling on a motion for judgment of acquittal de novo. See State v. Williams, 742 So.2d 509, 511 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). In reviewing an order denying a motion for...