Summary
holding that evidence of the victim's injuries was relevant to corroborate that a battery took place and that the wooden-handled kitchen knife used in that battery qualified as a deadly weapon
Summary of this case from Jackson v. StateOpinion
No. 98-891
Opinion filed January 22, 1999 JANUARY TERM 1999
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Seminole County, Wallace H. Hall, Judge.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Leonard R. Ross, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Robin A. Compton, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
Brooks challenges his conviction for aggravated battery by the use of a deadly weapon on two grounds. First, he contends it was error to permit testimony concerning the extent of the victim's injuries since he was charged with the use of a deadly weapon and not with causing serious bodily harm. Second, he urges that a "mere kitchen knife" is not a deadly weapon.
The challenged evidence revealed that after Brooks argued with the victim, he retrieved a wooden-handled knife from the kitchen. He choked the victim with his left hand while holding the knife against her neck with his right hand. He smashed the victim's head against the padlock of the door and "skinned" her with the knife. He placed the knife at the victim's side, ripping her shirt. The injuries suffered by the victim as testified to at trial may or may not have constituted sufficient injuries in and of themselves to constitute aggravated battery. The State did not rely on such injuries in its charging document. Such testimony is admissible, however, if it is otherwise relevant. T.B. v. State, 669 So.2d 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). Here, the evidence was relevant to corroborate that a battery took place and that a knife was used in that battery.
The wooden-handled kitchen knife was entered into evidence and displayed to the jury. The jury was properly instructed as to the definition of a "deadly weapon" and determined that the knife in evidence was one. Based on the facts of this case, the jury's determination is warranted by the record.
AFFIRMED.
COBB and PETERSON, JJ., concur.