Case Name: David BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-05-29
Citations: 579 So. 2d 898
Docket Number: No. 90-1693
Parties: David BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: DOWNEY and FARMER, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 579
Pages: 898–900

Head Matter:
David BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 90-1693.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
May 29, 1991.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Robert Friedman, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Patricia G. Lampert, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
We affirm Brown's conviction for attempted manslaughter with a firearm, simple assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle. We find no error in permitting the impeachment evidence that Brown was fired from his job as a correctional officer after he had previously testified that he had quit. The trial judge obviously saw the original testimony as an attempt to enhance Brown's credibility by his testimony that he himself had been a law enforcement officer, and we are unable to find any abuse of discretion in that conclusion.
We do find error, however, in sentencing Brown to a minimum mandatory three year sentence for attempted manslaughter with a firearm under § 775.087(2), Fla.Stat. (1989). The supreme court has authoritatively construed that statute as not extending to manslaughter. Murray v. State, 491 So.2d 1120 (Fla.1986); see also Whitehead v. State, 446 So.2d 194 (Fla. 4th DCA 1884). On remand the trial court is instructed to delete the minimum mandatory three year part of the sentence.
We also reverse the conviction for criminal contempt. This conviction was based on Brown's denial on cross-examination that he had been fired from the correctional officer position. While the records of the state agency indisputably showed that the state thought he had been fired rather than quitting, there is absolutely no evidence in the record to establish that Brown himself knew that he had been fired or why. Intent is an essential element of perjury, and here there was no evidence that he intended to lie.
AFFIRMED IN PART, AND REVERSED IN PART WITH DIRECTIONS.
DOWNEY and FARMER, JJ., concur.
GUNTHER, J., concurs in part; dissents in part.