Court Opinion

ID: 9609478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:27:24.359129+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:50.782745
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Presiding Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur fully in Division 1 and in the affirmance, but I cannot do the same regarding Division 2. I do agree that the requested charge was not totally correct, because it twice refers to the incident as an “accident” and because it states that “how the defendant was driving” must be the proximate cause. The term “how” he was driving is nebulous and not explained in the charge. The jury would not know whether it meant speed, proximity, attentiveness, manner, condition of driver, all the circumstances, or something else. The prohibition is against causing death through driving under the influence. OCGA §§ 40-6-393 (a); 40-6-391. For these reasons alone, the charge was properly rejected. Harmon v. State, 208 Ga. App. 271, 274 (5) (430 SE2d 399) (1993).
However, where a proper request is made,1 the court should be required to charge on proximate cause. Particularly in a case like this one, where the defense was that someone else, i.e., the wrecker driver, caused the collision which resulted in the deaths, the jury should be clearly informed that defendant’s conduct must be the proximate cause. As pointed out in Johnson v. State, 170 Ga. App. 433, 434 (1) (317 SE2d 213) (1984), “[t]he term and concept of proximate cause has been applied in vehicular homicide cases in this state for many years. [Cits.]” See also Davis v. State, 187 Ga. App. 517, 521 (3) (370 SE2d 779) (1988). There should be no mistaken notion that a defendant’s intoxicated driving need only be a cause or an indirect cause. An independent intervening cause would break the chain of causation. Hood v. State, 193 Ga. App. 701, 702 (1) (389 SE2d 264) (1989).
In Williams v. State, 165 Ga. App. 831, 832 (302 SE2d 736) (1983), we noted the importance of assuring that the jury understands “the causation requirement.”

 Compare Billingsley v. State, 183 Ga. App. 850, 853 (5) (360 SE2d 451) (1987).