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Espinoza v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Feb 20, 1998
706 So. 2d 111 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)

Opinion

Case No. 97-980.

Opinion filed February 20, 1998. JANUARY TERM, A.D., 1998.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Barbara Levenson, Judge. L.T. No. 96-21867

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender and Howard E. Landau, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Doquyen T. Nguyen, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and GREEN and SHEVIN, JJ.


The defendant was convicted of manslaughter with a firearm after a jury trial. The record showed that the victim was a friend of the defendant who was fatally shot when a pistol being cleaned by the defendant fired when the trigger was accidentally touched and the victim was two to three feet away. We agree that this showing without any additional aggravating circumstances was insufficient to justify the conviction under review. See In the Interest of J.C.D., 598 So.2d 304 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); J.A. v. State, 593 So.2d 572 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992).

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed with directions to discharge the defendant.

This decision is to take effect immediately, without reference to the filing or disposition of any motion for rehearing.


Summaries of

Espinoza v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Feb 20, 1998
706 So. 2d 111 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)
Case details for

Espinoza v. State

Case Details

Full title:JOHNNY DAVISLAY ESPINOZA, Appellant, vs. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Feb 20, 1998

Citations

706 So. 2d 111 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998)