Yohn v. State

476 So. 2d 123, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 378
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 11, 1985
Docket65,504
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 476 So. 2d 123 (Yohn v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yohn v. State, 476 So. 2d 123, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 378 (Fla. 1985).

Opinion

476 So.2d 123 (1985)

Tura YOHN, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. 65,504.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 11, 1985.
Rehearing Denied October 7, 1985.

Robert B. Staats of Staats, Overstreet & White, Panama City, for petitioner.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Wallace E. Allbritton, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.

ADKINS, Justice.

The First District Court of Appeal certified to this Court the following question:

If the state has the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant was sane at the time of the offense when the defense of insanity has been raised, is the giving of the present insanity instruction, as set forth in standard jury instruction 3.04(b), along with the general reasonable doubt instruction sufficient, notwithstanding the defendant having specifically requested the Court to instruct the jury that the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was sane at the time of the offense?

*124 Yohn v. State, 450 So.2d 898, 901 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

Petitioner was convicted of manslaughter for the shooting death of a woman who had been having an affair with petitioner's husband. In her appeal to the First District Court of Appeal, petitioner raised several points, but the district court only concerned itself with one, i.e., whether the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury that the state had the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was sane. The district court concluded there was no error. We do not agree.

At the trial, petitioner raised the defense of insanity. The expert testimony received at trial regarding this issue was conflicting.

Petitioner's counsel requested the following special jury instructions relating to the defense of insanity:

Appellant's requested jury instruction No. 8:

You are instructed that where the Defendant, as in the present case, raises the issue of insanity as a defense and presents evidence that at the time of the commission of the offense he was insane, there is no longer any presumption of sanity. In that instance the burden of proof shifts to the state of Florida and the state of Florida must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Defendant was sane at the time of the alleged offense. Thus, in the present case if the state of Florida fails to present evidence sufficient to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant was sane at the time of the alleged offense, that it will be your duty to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Appellant's requested jury instruction No. 9:

It is sufficient as a defense of insanity if the evidence raises in the minds of the jurors a reasonable doubt as to the sanity of the Defendant at the time of the alleged crime, and if therefore there is a reasonable doubt as to his sanity at that time, it is your duty to find him not guilty by reason of insanity.

Appellant's requested jury instruction No. 10:

There has been evidence as to the Defendant's mental condition at the time of the commission of the alleged offense. The jury may consider the testimony of a layman who has given his opinion as to the sanity or insanity of the Defendant, on the basis of the facts known to him.

Appellant's requested jury instruction No. 11:

INSANITY
One of the defenses asserted in this case is that the Defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity at the time of the alleged crime.
The law does not hold a person criminally accountable for his conduct while insane, since an insane person is not capable of forming the intent essential to the commission of a crime. A person is sane and responsible for his crime if he has sufficient mental capacity when the crime is committed to understand what he is doing and to understand that his act is wrong. If at the time of an alleged crime a defendant was by reason of mental infirmity, disease or defect unable to understand the nature and quality of his act or its consequences or if he did understand it, was incapable of distinguishing that which is right from that which is wrong, he was legally insane and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Insanity may be permanent, temporary or may come and go. It is for you to determine the question of the sanity of the Defendant at the time of the alleged commission of the crime.
Until the contrary is shown by the evidence, the Defendant is presumed to be sane. However, if the evidence tends to raise a reasonable doubt as to his sanity, the presumption of sanity is overcome.
Where insanity of a permanent type, or of a continuing nature, or possessed *125 of the characteristics of a chronic disorder of the mind, as distinguished from temporary insanity, or disorders of the mind produced by violence or disease, is shown to have existed a short time prior to the commission of an alleged crime, it is presumed to continue up to the time of the commission of the alleged crime, unless this presumption is overcome by competent evidence.
If the evidence presented tends to raise a reasonable doubt as to the sanity of the Defendant at the time of the alleged offense, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant was legally sane at the time of the commission of the alleged offense.

The trial judge refused to give these instructions. Instead he gave the current Florida Standard Jury Instructions on the issue, Florida Standard Jury Instructions (Criminal) 304(b) and 2.03, as follows:

The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty. This means you must assume or believe the defendant is innocent. The presumption stays with the defendant as to each material allegation in the indictment, through each stage of the trial until it has been overcome by the evidence to the exclusion of and beyond a reasonable doubt. To overcome the defendant's presumption of innocence, the State has the burden of proving the following two elements: (1) The crime with which the defendant is charged was committed; second, the defendant is the person who committed the crime. The defendant is not required to prove anything. Whenever the words reasonable doubt are used you must consider the following: A reasonable doubt is not a possible doubt, a speculative, imaginary or forced doubt. Such a doubt must not influence you to return a verdict of not guilty if you have an abiding conviction of guilt. On the other hand, if after considering, comparing and weighing all the evidence there is not an abiding conviction of guilt or if having a conviction it is one which is not stable, but one which waivers and vacillates, then the charge is not proved beyond every reasonable doubt and you must find the defendant not guilty because the doubt is reasonable.
It is to the evidence introduced upon this trial and to it alone that you are to look for that proof. A reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant may arise from the evidence, conflicts in the evidence, or the lack of evidence. If you have a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant not guilty. If you have no reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant guilty. It must be proved only to a reasonable certainty that the alleged crime was committed in Bay County.

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Bluebook (online)
476 So. 2d 123, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yohn-v-state-fla-1985.