Deadly Weapons and DWI

In Quincy v. State, The defendant’s hands were found to be a deadly weapon essentially because the defendant was bigger than the victim and also due to the fact that “a shelf in the pantry may have actually caused the wound is of no consequence.”

The court found, “Here, the evidence showed there was a size difference between the victim and Quincy….He grabbed the victim’s throat with his hand and caused bruising consistent with choking near her collarbone. He struck the victim on the head with his closed fist with force sufficient to create a significant gaping would that split the victim’s scalp, caused profuse bleeding, and required fourteen staples to close. That a shelf in the pantry may have actually caused the wound is of no consequence where the defendant’s striking of the victim caused her to fall into the pantry. After knocking the victim into the pantry, he punched the victim again with his closed first in the side of head and then her back.”

In Scillitani v. State, the Defendant’s conviction of DWI was reversed even though evidence showed that he was intoxicated at the accident scene upon the Trooper’s arrival and even though the defendant admitted to driving the vehicle–because no evidence was presented to show how recently the vehicle was driven or how much time elapsed between the accident and the Trooper’s arrival.