Maria Teresa Josephina Goodwin and Julie Elizabeth Poole were co-workers at a greenhouse or plant nursery. The two were roughhousing with each other at work when Poole shoved Goodwin and, in response, Goodwin grabbed Poole by the neck. Poole collapsed and died shortly thereafter. The state’s medical expert testified that: there were virtually no signs of forcible injury on Poole’s neck, the cause of death was not strangulation or asphyxiation but was heart dysrhythmia brought on by the pressure from Goodwin’s hands to the carotid sinus in Poole’s neck, and the amount of pressure to the carotid sinus which could cause heart dysrhythmia might be as slight as that of a shirt collar around a neck.
Goodwin was convicted of the voluntary manslaughter of Poole and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. In
Goodwin v. State,
1. Considering the evidence in a light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Goodwin guilty of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt.
Jackson v. Virginia,
2. In Division 2 of its opinion, the Court of Appeals, relying upon certain language in our decision of
Culbreath v. State,
3. Because the propriety of an involuntary manslaughter charge will depend upon the facts developed in the retrial of the case, we do not address the issue of the court’s refusal to give said charge in the first trial.
Judgment reversed as to Division 2.