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MEMORANDUM OF LAW TO: Kamilah Henderson FROM: Shainaivah Lewis DATE: 3/15/20 RE: John Johnson’s Wrongful death case

Statement of Assignment: I was asked to prepare a legal memorandum on the wrongful death case involving defendant John Johnson. Issue: Whether the acts of John Johnson can be classified as a charge lesser than murder for the wrongful death of his ex-wife Mary Johnson? Answer: Yes. John Johnson can be charged with a lesser charge than murder for this case. According to Fla. Stat. § 782.07 voluntary manslaughter is committing an intentional act that was neither excusable nor justified that resulted in the death of another person. Facts: On September 15th, 2019, Mary and her husband John were living in Greensboro, North Carolina. John played football for the Carolina Panthers as a wide receiver while his wife Mary worked as a Security Accountant Officer at the Bank of America for over eight years. They share a 10-year-old daughter named K.J. On the afternoon of the 15th, Mary and John got into a heated argument while K.J was sleep and caused Mary to file for divorce and joint custody the next day. It was November 5th, when Mary and her daughter moved out town and she started dating. As months gone by John saw photos of his daughter KJ with Mary and her new boyfriend

online with a video of KJ stating “You’re my dad number two”. John was furious, disappointed and disgusted all at once. Later that evening, around 7:35 pm the doorbell rang. As Mary’s boyfriend answered, John fired a shot towards his chest. She started screaming and running towards the back door as John ran towards her and threw several punches at her face then shot her in the chest as well. The neighbors heard the shots and ran to the house where they saw the boyfriend body laying out near the door and Mary’s in the living room. Discussion: In this case, the defendant John has been charged with Fla. Stat. § 782.04 (Murder) for the premeditated wrongful death killing of his ex-wife, Mary. Murder is the killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought means the initial killing to cause harm with a malicious mental state that is present at the time of the homicide. Under Fla. Stat. § 782.07, John can be charged of a lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of his ex-wife Mary. Voluntary manslaughter is defined as committing an intentional act that was neither excusable nor justified that resulted in the death of another person. In order to be charged with manslaughter, a defendant must (1) be under extreme provocation, (2) cause harm in the heat of passion and (3) cause the death of another without malice aforethought Fla. Stat. § 782.07. A. The court can find that the defendant was under extreme provocation. John will likely be able to establish a defense under Fla. Stat. § 782.07, because John can prove that punching Mary in the face and shooting her occurred under provocation. Provocation is “when a person commits a crime partly because of a preceding set of events that might cause a reasonable person to lose self-control” FL Orders 2014-107. In Betts v. State 100 So.3d.78 it was stated that an inmate was charged with four counts of First-degree murder but tried to plea for a

lesser charge of manslaughter Betts v. State, 100 So. 3d 78 Fla. 2d DCA 2011. The court was unable to charge the defendant with manslaughter because the court was unable to prove that any provocation occurred prior to the killing. In my case, the defendant John acted in response to a provocation that to be enough as cause of reasonable person to lose self-control. As John was recently in an argument with Mary about not seeing his daughter, then saw a video of his daughter calling another man “You’re my dad number two” and a photo with them all together resulted in the loss of John self-control. John was furious, he felt disrespected and hurt. Even with the fact that him and Mary were divorced, it was an agreement they both made that their daughter wouldn’t be around Mary’s boyfriend until John knew of him. Also, John lost self-control when he arrived at his ex-wife’s home and her boyfriend opened the door. At that moment, John felt as though Mary and the boyfriend were living together and he didn’t want that occurring with his daughter living there and because he still had love for Mary. B. The court can see that the defendant caused harm in the heat of passion John can also, be charged with manslaughter because he reacted in the heat of passion. Palmore v. State, 838 So. 2d 1222 Fla. 1st DCA 2003 states that “the killing of a human being is excusable, and therefore lawful, when the killing occurs in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation. It was also stated in Douglas v. State, 652 So. 2d 887 Fla. 4th DCA 1995 that if a defendant is being prosecuted for a killing which occurred in the heat of passion, evidence of the relationship between the victim and the defendant, is relevant to show why the defendant went into a rage. Being in the heat of passion doesn’t necessarily mean the crime committed was premeditated Forehand v. State, 126 Fla. 464, 171 So. 241 1936.

The defendant John acted out in the heat of passion. John was furious and disappointed after arguing with Mary about the next time he would see his daughter which started the heat. According to Douglas v. State, 652 So. 2d 887 Fla. 4th DCA 1995 since Mary and John were previously involved with each other and married it shows why he went into a sudden rage. His rage is related and reflected upon their previous relationship. When John pulled up to Mary’s front door and saw her boyfriend answer the first instinct that came to mind was to shoot. John was upset, he was selfish and didn’t want anyone loving her the way he did. C. The court can rule that cause of death was without malice aforethought Malice aforethought is the initial killing to cause harm with a malicious mental state which needs to be present at the time of the homicide 1996 Bill Text FL H.B. 1411. Holland v. State, 12 Fla. 117 1867 explained that homicide must be committed under certain circumstances to make it murder or if there is such absence of malice it can be reduced to manslaughter. In John’s case, the court would rule that the killing occurred without malice aforethought because he did not suffer from any mental illnesses during the time of the crime. He didn’t have any symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD or etc Dianne Steele Mental Illness Insurance Parity Act., 1997 Bill Text FL S.b. 268. Conclusion: With these facts, John would be able to reduce his charge down to voluntary manslaughter. First, John can admit that the death of his ex-wife was caused under extreme provocation. The reason for this is because there were a set of events that occurred which lead to her death. Secondly, it could be explained that John reacted in the heat of passion. Since John was furious and disappointed with Mary because of her decision to go against what they had agreed upon related to their daughter, this caused the situation to escalate. Lastly, the death of

another without malice aforethought can be proved against John because he was not found to be in a mental state at the time of the event....