Carita CORPUZ, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
*1049 Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Cherry Grant, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Lara J. Edelstein, and Maya Saxena, Assistant Attorneys General, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.
PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from appellant's conviction for sexual battery upon a person less than twelve years of age by a person eighteen years of age or older. Appellant contends that the trial court erred by failing to grant a judgment of acquittal based upon her defense of insanity and the state's failure to prove her sanity. Because there was evidence that appellant was intoxicated, rather than insane, we affirm the court's denial of the motion.
Appellant was charged with capital sexual battery of her child in a bizarre set of circumstances during which appellant actually committed the act of sexual battery in the presence of officers whom she had called to the scene. Appellant was intoxicated at the time, having used cocaine and alcohol that evening. Tests on appellant revealed a blood alcohol level of .123 and positive results for cocaine and amphetamines.
At trial, the appellant raised the insanity defense, introducing testimony of two experts. They testified that appellant experienced a psychotic episode as a result of her intoxication, that a psychotic episode is a medical infirmity or defect, and that appellant did not have the ability to know what she was doing or its consequences. However, the experts admitted that intoxicated people can commit bizarre acts and still be considered sane. Moreover, Dr. Rifkin testified that it is possible to have a psychotic episode and still be sane. The appellant moved for judgment of acquittal, claiming that she had presented evidence which raised a reasonable doubt as to her sanity, and that the unrebutted expert testimony was conclusive on the issue. The court denied the motion, prompting this appeal.
"The applicable standard of review of the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal is to determine whether the jury may reasonably conclude that the evidence fails to exclude every reasonable hypothesis but that of guilt." Murphy v. State,
In the instant case, the evidence presented by the experts themselves shows that the appellant committed the act while intoxicated, but that intoxicated persons could be sane even when committing bizarre acts. This testimony undermined their contrary opinions that appellant was not sane at the time of the incident. "[E]xpert testimony is not binding on the trier of fact." Fisher v. State,
Appellant also claims that her counsel was ineffective in closing argument by making an argument which improperly shifted the burden to appellant to prove her insanity beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not think that ineffectiveness sufficient to vacate the conviction is so apparent on the face of the record that it can be raised on direct appeal. See Stewart v. State,
Affirmed.
STONE, C.J., GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., concur.
NOTES
Notes
[1] Appellant stresses insanity as a defense, since voluntary intoxication is not a defense to capital sexual battery. See Askew v. State,
