## Facts

- Maurice William Sagner argued with William “Chino” Marquez.
- As Sagner got into his car to leave, he intentionally threw a bottle from the car window toward Marquez while looking directly at him.
- The bottle did not hit Marquez. Instead, it struck a bystander, Chris Taupe, and shattered.
- Glass from the shattered bottle struck another bystander, Michelle Green, in the eye, causing permanent damage.
- Green was not involved in the argument between Sagner and Marquez.
- The State charged Sagner by information with aggravated battery, alleging he intentionally touched or struck Michelle Green and, in doing so, (1) intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement, or (2) used a deadly weapon, identified as a bottle.
- At trial, Sagner moved for judgment of acquittal at the close of the State’s case, arguing there was no proof he intended to hit Green and that the prosecution was improperly relying on transferred intent.
- Over defense objection, the trial court instructed the jury on transferred intent: if a person intends to strike one person and, in attempting to do so, accidentally strikes another, the striking is treated as intentional.
- The jury convicted Sagner of aggravated battery (as charged), and the trial court imposed sentence. Sagner appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the doctrine of transferred intent can satisfy the “intentional touching or striking” element of aggravated battery when the defendant intended to strike one person but an unintended bystander was injured and named as the victim in the charging information.

## Decision

- The Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed the conviction and sentence.
- The court held the transferred-intent instruction was a correct statement of Florida law and was supported by the evidence.
- The court rejected Sagner’s claim that the State had to prove he specifically intended to strike Michelle Green; proof that he intended to strike Marquez could transfer to Green for purposes of aggravated battery.

## Legal Principles

- Under Florida law, if a defendant intends to strike one person and, while attempting to do so, accidentally strikes another, the law treats the striking of the unintended person as intentional.
- Transferred intent is not limited to homicide; it may apply to battery-based offenses, including aggravated battery, when an intentional act directed at one victim results in injury to a different victim.
- A transferred-intent jury instruction is proper when the evidence permits a finding that the defendant acted intentionally toward an intended target and the unintended victim was injured as a result of that act.
- When the defendant’s intent to commit a battery is established as to the intended target, the absence of an intent to injure the actual victim does not bar conviction if the elements of aggravated battery are otherwise proven (including permanent injury or use of a deadly weapon).

## Conclusion

The Fourth District affirmed Sagner’s aggravated battery conviction, holding that the trial court properly instructed the jury on transferred intent because the evidence supported a finding that Sagner intentionally threw the bottle at Marquez and the resulting injury to bystander Michelle Green could be treated as an intentional touching or striking for aggravated battery purposes.


Sagner v. State, 791 So.2d 1156 (2001)