Case Name: Theresa JACKSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1989-12-13
Citations: 553 So. 2d 719
Docket Number: No. 88-0264
Parties: Theresa JACKSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: WALDEN and GUNTHER, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 553
Pages: 719–727

Head Matter:
Theresa JACKSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 88-0264.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
Dec. 13, 1989.
Richard G. Lubin and Thomas C. Gano of Lubin and Mincberg, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Richard L. Polin, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
We affirm the judgment of conviction entered on all counts and address only the point raising error in the admission of testimony from the state's expert psychologist which was offered to prove that the appellant was guilty of child abuse, pursuant to section 827.04(1), Florida Statutes (1985).
The expert psychologist specialized in suicidology and, for purposes of this trial, performed a psychological autopsy on appellant's seventeen-year-old daughter who had committed suicide in March of 1986. His testimony explained that a psychological autopsy is a retrospective look at an individual's suicide to try to determine what led that person to choose death over life. In order to make that determination, in this case, the expert reviewed the child's school records, the police records surrounding this case, including all of the state's evidence and all of the defendant's statements and medical records, an incident report from an earlier suicide attempt by the child and various testimony from the witnesses appearing at this trial. However he admitted that he did not personally interview any of the witnesses who appeared at trial nor did he ever meet or interview the suicide victim. His opinion, bounded by reasonable psychiatric certainty, was that the nature of the relationship between the defendant and her daughter was a substantial contributing factor in the daughter's decision to commit suicide.
Having reviewed the record, we are satisfied that the state presented sufficient evidence to establish that psychological autopsy is accepted in the field of psychiatry as a method of evaluation for use in cases involving suicide and that the trial judge acted within his discretion in admitting this evidence at trial. Sections 90.402; 90.403; 90.702; 90.704, Fla.Stat. (1987).
With regard to the concerns of the defense that the psychological autopsy was not established as reliable before it was admitted into evidence, we note that such opinions are subjective and therefore the issue of reliability is best left to the jury. Further, we perceive no distinction between the admission of the expert's opinion in this case and, for example, admitting psychiatric opinion evidence to establish a defendant's sanity at the time of committing an offense or to prove the competency of an individual at the time of executing a will. See Morgan v. State, 537 So.2d 973 (Fla.1989); United States v. Edwards, 819 F.2d 262 (11th Cir.1987); see also Kruse v. State, 483 So.2d 1383 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986); Terry v. State, 467 So.2d 761 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); In re Estate of Hammermann, 387 So.2d 409 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).
There being no merit to the other arguments raised, we affirm the judgment of conviction.
AFFIRMED.
WALDEN and GUNTHER, JJ., concur.
GLICKSTEIN, J., concurs specially with opinion.