 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Leveritt v. State5/7/2002
As amended May 16, 2002.
ROBERT CHARLES LEVERITT, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Jack M. Schemer, Judge.
William J. Sheppard and D. Gray Thomas of Sheppard, White and Thomas, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee. Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Bart Schneider and Carolyn J. Mosley, Assistant Attorneys General, Tallahassee, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Per Curiam
Robert Charles Leveritt appeals his convictions for driving under the influence (DUI) manslaughter and vehicular homicide; and the state cross-appeals the trial court's downward departure on appellant's sentence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm all but one of the issues raised on appeal, and affirm the issue raised on cross-appeal. We also certify conflict with decisions of other districts as to one of the issues raised and certify a question of great public importance.
Factual and Procedural Background
Following a day of playing golf with a friend, appellant lost control of his car on a rainy afternoon and was involved in a serious one-car accident. Appellant's passenger, his golfing friend and fellow U.S. Navy diver, was killed instantly. Appellant's blood was drawn at the hospital shortly after the accident, and an analyst for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement later tested the blood sample and found appellant's blood alcohol level to be .21. Appellant was charged with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter. Appellant moved to suppress results of the blood test. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion was denied.
At the ensuing trial, in addition to the blood test evidence, the prosecution adduced testimony from witnesses who saw appellant and the deceased passenger consuming Bloody Marys and beer on the day of the accident and other witnesses who smelled an odor of alcohol about the appellant's automobile after the accident. The evidence showed that there was, however, a period of several hours immediately prior to the accident during which appellant was not seen to have been drinking, and witnesses on the scene of the accident testified that they had not seen or found evidence of alcohol impairment in the accident. Without objection, the trial court instructed the jury to make certain presumptions of impairment pursuant to section 316.1934, Florida Statutes (1997), based on the blood alcohol test results, including the following:
If you find from the evidence that the defendant had a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or more, that evidence would be sufficient by itself to establish that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired. However, such evidence may be contradicted or rebutted by other evidence.
The jury found appellant guilty on both counts. The trial court entered judgment adjudicating appellant guilty on both counts. This appeal ensued.
Blood Test Validity
Appellant raises several issues on appeal, most of which challenge the validity of the blood test, the central issue at trial, and the jury instruction made pursuant to section 316.1934. We find no merit to the arguments raised regarding the trial court's admission of blood samples taken from the appellant, as well as the test results based upon those samples. Further, we find no error in the trial court's decision to allow the medical examiner to testify as to the victim's bloo
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Florida DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|