Opinion ID: 1819366
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: intoxication and second degree assault

Text: Hoffman directs our attention to State v. Duis, 207 Neb. 851, 301 N.W.2d 587 (1981), a prosecution for second degree assault prohibited by § 28-309(1)(a) (Reissue 1979), which provided: A person commits the offense of assault in the second degree if he ... [i]ntentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to another person with a dangerous instrument.... In Duis this court expressed: Assault with a dangerous instrument, like simple assault, is a `general intent' crime. 207 Neb. at 854, 301 N.W.2d at 589. Hoffman asserts that the blood-alcohol content of his body caused oxygen depletion in his brain so that his thoughts were dominated with a relaxed, `so-what' attitude making defendant feel invincible and inducing him to climb behind the wheel. Brief for Appellant at 18. That condition, Hoffman argues, was the result of intoxication to such an extent that, as a matter of law, Hoffman could not intentionally cause the death of Lana Wagner. Whereas State v. Duis, supra , involved intentional infliction of bodily injury to another, the State has prosecuted Hoffman for recklessly causing bodily injury to another by means of a dangerous instrument contrary to § 28-309(1)(b) (Reissue 1985). According to the definition contained in § 28-109(19), recklessly, as used in § 28-309(1)(b), means conduct in which an actor disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk of serious bodily injury to another, which risk, in view of the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and circumstances known to the actor, involves a gross deviation from a standard of conduct which a law-abiding person would have observed in the actor's situation. Regarding the preceding characterization of a reckless act or conduct, Hoffman questions only the nature of a defendant's state of mind relative to the reckless act or conduct necessary for commission of second degree assault, § 28-309(1)(b). However, under § 28-309(1)(b) concerning a second degree assault based on a reckless act or conduct, an intent to inflict or cause bodily injury is not an element; rather, the reckless act or conduct, causing serious bodily injury, is the gravamen. A reckless act involves a conscious choice in a course of action, made with knowledge of a serious danger or risk to another as a result of such choice of action or with knowledge of the attendant circumstances which, to a reasonable person, would indicate or disclose a serious danger or risk to another as a result of the course of action selected. See, People v. Mason, 198 Misc. 452, 97 N.Y.S.2d 462 (1950); State v. Bischert, 131 Mont. 152, 308 P.2d 969 (1957); 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 31(5) (1961). When one deliberately does an act which proximately causes and directly produces a result which the criminal law is designed to prevent, the actor is legally and criminally responsible for all the natural or necessary consequences of the unlawful act, although a particular result of the act was not intended or desired. Hankins v. State, 206 Ark. 881, 178 S.W.2d 56 (1944); People v. Hickman, 9 Ill.App.3d 39, 291 N.E.2d 523 (1973); 22 C.J.S., supra, § 36. Thus, for the purpose of a second degree assault contrary to § 28-309(1)(b), the requisite reckless act or conduct involves the actor's conscious choice in a course of action involving a dangerous instrument, which constitutes disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk to another, and does not require the actor's intent to cause serious bodily injury to another. The fact that an accused, at the time of the criminal act charged, was drunk or intoxicated does not constitute, as a matter of law, a defense regarding an offense which requires a general or specific intent. People v. Crosser, 117 Ill.App.3d 24, 72 Ill.Dec. 604, 452 N.E.2d 857 (1983). Ordinarily, voluntary intoxication does not justify or excuse a crime, unless an accused is intoxicated to an extent or degree that the accused is incapable of forming the intent required as an element of the crime charged. State v. Cain, 223 Neb. 796, 393 N.W.2d 727 (1986). When an element of a crime involves existence of a defendant's mental process or other state of mind of an accused, such elements involve a question of fact and may be proved by circumstantial evidence. See State v. Lynch, 215 Neb. 528, 340 N.W.2d 128 (1983) (location, nature, and number of wounds were circumstantial evidence of deliberate and premeditated malice necessary for first degree murder). Evidence established that Hoffman drank a considerable quantity of alcoholic beverage (root beer schnapps); drove his automobile on the city streets of Lincoln after consuming that alcohol; was conscious, alert, and conversing with hospital personnel after the fatal collision; and discussed the Implied Consent Advisement Form with Officer Bassett. Those facts provided the trial court with sufficient circumstantial evidence from which to draw the conclusion that Hoffman was able to make a conscious choice to drive his automobile, rather than refrain from operating his vehicle, and thereby disregarded the substantial risk of bodily injury to the public as the result of Hoffman's drinking alcohol combined with his driving an automobile. Even Hoffman does not claim that he was incapable of making a decision whether to drive his car. Hoffman's instilled euphoria from the alcohol, inducing him to climb behind the wheel, is not a legal excuse for the reckless act which resulted in the unintended and tragic death of Lana Wagner. Hoffman's first assignment of error has no merit whatsoever.