Opinion ID: 555564
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of the Appellant's Motions

Text: 15 As discussed above, appellant unsuccessfully sought to have Count II of the indictment dismissed on the grounds that it was improperly charged under the Assimilative Crimes Act (the Act). He renews this claim on appeal. Because this is an issue regarding the proper interpretation of law, the standard of review by this Court is de novo. Underwood v. Hunter, 730 F.2d 614, 617 n. 6 (11th Cir.1984). The Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 13, states that: 16 Whoever within or upon any of the places now existing or hereafter reserved or acquired ..., is guilty of an act or omission which, although not made punishable by any enactment of Congress, would be punishable if committed or omitted within the jurisdiction of the State ... in which such place is situated, by the laws thereof in force at the time of such act or omission, shall be guilty of a like offense and subject to a like punishment. 17 It is generally understood that the purpose of the Act is to fill the gaps in federal criminal law. United States v. Brown, 608 F.2d 551, 553 (5th Cir.1979), citing United States v. Prejean, 494 F.2d 495, 496 (5th Cir.1974). It is the law of the Eleventh Circuit that such a gap exists where no act of Congress directly makes a defendant's conduct punishable. Id. Appellant contends that the involuntary manslaughter statute, with which he was charged, directly makes his conduct unlawful. Consequently, he maintains that the additional charge in Count II of Florida's DUI Manslaughter statute, was improper. 18 Federal law defines manslaughter as the unlawful killing of a human being without malice. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1112. Involuntary manslaughter is manslaughter which occurs 19 [i]n the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful action which might produce death. 20 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1112. The necessary elements of proof are: (1) that the defendant inflicted injuries upon the deceased from which the deceased died; (2) that the defendant acted with wanton and reckless disregard for human life; (3) that the defendant was at the time committing an unlawful act not amounting to a felony; (4) that the defendant knew that his conduct was a threat to the lives of others or had knowledge of the circumstances as could have enabled him to reasonably foresee the peril to which his act might subject others; and (5) that it occurred within the special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States. United States v. Schmidt, 626 F.2d 616 (11th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 904, 101 S.Ct. 278, 66 L.Ed.2d 136 (1981). 21 The Florida DUI Manslaughter statute provides in part that: 22 (1) A person is guilty of the offense of driving under the physical control of a vehicle within this statute and; ... [t]he person has a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent or higher. 23 Section 316.193, Florida Statutes (Supp.1986). If a person driving under the influence causes the death of any human being, this is DUI manslaughter, a felony in the second degree. Id. The elements of proof required are (1) that the driver/defendant was under the influence in that his normal faculties were impaired or had a blood alcohol level above .10 and (2) that there was a causal connection between the operation of the vehicle by the offender and the resulting death. Magaw v. State, 537 So.2d 564 (Fla.1989). The government does not have to prove that the defendant's drinking caused the accident. It is only required that the operation of the vehicle caused the accident. Id. In fact, any deviation or lack of care on the part of a driver under the influence to which the fatal accident can be attributed will suffice. Id. at 567. 24 We are persuaded that this case is similar to others in which the precise act prohibited by the state statute is neither defined nor prohibited by a federal statute. See United States v. Brown, 608 F.2d 551, 554 (5th Cir.1979). In the Brown case this Court found that the defendant could properly be charged under a state child abuse statute even though her conduct could have also fallen under the federal assault statute. Id. at 554. We believed that the precise act of injury to a child was not proscribed by federal law, and therefore the state statute was designed to punish specific conduct of a different character than that proscribed in the federal assault statute. Id. 25 As in Brown, the present case is one where the precise act of appellant, that of causing death while driving under the influence of alcohol, is not proscribed by federal law. See United States v. Best, 573 F.2d 1095, 1098 (9th Cir.1978). The fact that this act could also be punishable under a broader federal statute is not relevant. Appellant has been prosecuted under a state statute designed to punish specific conduct which is not specifically addressed by federal law. Consequently we believe that the government properly applied the Act when it charged appellant with the Florida DUI Manslaughter statute.
26 In his motion for judgment of acquittal appellant maintained that the government failed to establish that any deviation or lack of care on his part caused the death of his passenger. In reviewing the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal based on a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court must 27 view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government ... The jury's verdict must be sustained if any reasonable construction of the evidence allowed the jury to find the appellants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt ... The evidence may be sufficient even though it is not inconsistent with every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. The jury is free to choose among reasonable constructions of the evidence. 28 United States v. Obregon, 893 F.2d 1307, 1311 (11th Cir.1990). 29 Applying that test to this case, we note that the jury heard testimony from Pamela Hildebrand, a passenger in appellant's automobile, that appellant was traveling 40 to 45 mph on a 35 mph road at the time of the accident. Furthermore, she testified that he was driving in the middle of the road and that although he had time to react, he took no evasive action. Patrick O'Neal, the driver of the other vehicle, also testified that at the time of the accident, appellant was driving on the wrong side of the road. This is ample evidence from which the jury could have concluded that appellant deviated from a reasonable standard of care. Therefore, we affirm the district court's denial of appellant's motion for acquittal and its submission of the case to the jury.