Summary
The Supreme Court of Florida authorized the publication and use of amended instruction 6.6, Attempted Voluntary Manslaughter by Act. The instruction addresses the elements of attempted voluntary manslaughter by act, including intentional conduct, excusable or justifiable homicide, negligence, abandonment, and procurement. The opinion states that the instruction became effective when the opinion became final.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Court should authorize publication and use of the Committee's amended standard jury instruction 6.6 for attempted voluntary manslaughter by act.
Holdings
- The Court authorized publication and use of amended instruction 6.6, Attempted Voluntary Manslaughter by Act, as set forth in the appendix.
Key quotations
“Accordingly, we hereby authorize the publication and use of instruction 6.6 as amended, set forth in the appendix to this opinion.” (-2-)
“In doing so, we express no opinion on the correctness of the instruction and remind all interested parties that this authorization forecloses neither requesting additional or alternative instructions, nor contesting the legal correctness of the instruction.” (-2-)
Factual background
The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases submitted proposed changes to standard criminal jury instruction 6.6, concerning attempted voluntary manslaughter by act. The proposal followed the Court's decision in Williams v. State, which held that the then-existing instruction's requirement of an intent to cause death constituted fundamental error because attempted manslaughter by act requires only an intentional unlawful act. No underlying criminal defendant or factual trial record was before the Court in this original proceeding.
Procedural history
The Committee proposed amendments to instruction 6.6, originally addressing attempted voluntary manslaughter. The proposal was severed into this proceeding after related proceedings, and the Court considered comments received after publication of the proposed amendment. The Court authorized publication and use of the amended instruction and ordered that it become effective when the opinion became final.