In Stracar v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D2209a (Fla. 4th DCA 2013), Stracar was convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide. Stacar argued that the trial court erred in denying her motions for judgment of acquittal on the basis that the State’s evidence failed to show that Stacar was driving in a reckless manner sufficient to prove the charges.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed. The Appellate Court found that there was no evidence of any braking or other attempt by Stacar to avoid the crash, nor were there any curves in the roadway, which would have contributed to her losing control of her vehicle. The evidence showed that, at the time of the incident, the weather conditions were optimal and the pavement was dry. The presence of central nervous system depressants in Stracar’s blood stream after the crash, in and of itself, was insufficient to support a finding of reckless driving.
The Appellate Court found that it was error to deny Stacar’s motions for judgment of acquittal where the state failed to show that her actions rose to the level of recklessness sufficient to sustain the convictions.
