Brown v. State

424 So. 2d 950
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided January 10, 1983·No. AK-331, AK-363·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

424 So.2d 950 (1983)

Marvin Eugene BROWN, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
John Lee WILLIAMS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Nos. AK-331, AK-363.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

January 10, 1983.

*951 Frank Tassone, Jacksonville, for appellant Marvin Eugene Brown.

Paula S. Saunders, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant John Lee Williams.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., John W. Tiedemann, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

SHIVERS, Judge.

Williams and Brown appeal their convictions and sentences for the crime of burglary of a dwelling with intent to commit theft. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

Williams and Brown were charged with the above crime by separate informations. *952 On the same day that the jury selection process was commenced, the State moved to consolidate the cases against Brown and Williams. The trial court granted the motion to consolidate over the objections of both appellants. Opening arguments were commenced two days later, at which time both appellants moved to dismiss the information on the ground that the information was fatally defective in failing to allege that appellants entered a premises without the consent of the lawful owner. This motion was denied. Thereafter, the State filed a motion in limine to prohibit appellants from cross-examining the victim concerning his general moral character or drug usage. In opposition to this motion, appellants argued that cross-examination of the victim on these matters was necessary to explain the presence of appellants' fingerprints at the victim's home and was, therefore, essential to establish appellants' defense. On that basis, appellants argued that their sixth amendment right to confront and cross-examine witnesses would be violated if the trial court granted the State's motion in limine. In granting the State's motion in limine, the trial court noted that "if you want to call him [the victim] as an adverse witness during your side of the case, you can." During the State's case-in-chief, the State presented testimony from the victim and his sister, with whom he lived. Both witnesses testified that neither appellant had ever been inside their residence with permission. The State also presented expert fingerprint testimony linking both appellants to the crime. Fingerprints from both appellants were found on the outside portion of a sliding glass door, which was identified as the point of entry. Appellant Williams' fingerprints were also found on a dresser drawer located inside the burglarized dwelling. In addition, the State introduced evidence from an eyewitness who testified that on the morning of the burglary he saw Appellant Williams at the victim's home trying to open the garage door. The eyewitness also testified that on the morning of the burglary, he observed Appellant Brown driving an automobile which passed several times slowly by the victim's home and which later was parked around the corner from the victim's home. During appellant's case-in-chief, both appellants attempted to explain the presence of their fingerprints at the scene of the crime. Williams testified that he had been in the victim's home to buy marijuana from the victim and to have sex with him. Brown testified that he had been in the victim's home to sell food stamps to the victim and to buy marijuana from him. Appellant Williams also presented testimony from Melvin Brown, who is the brother of appellant Marvin Brown. Witness Brown testified that the victim had given him cocaine and marijuana, and that the victim had approached him sexually. This testimony, however, was stricken from the record by the trial court. During Appellant Brown's cross-examination of Melvin Brown, testimony similar to that which was stricken was proffered, but the trial court prohibited it from being admitted into evidence. On rebuttal, the State recalled the victim, who denied ever selling marijuana to any of the defense witnesses. On surrebuttal, the trial court refused to allow counsel for Appellant Williams to inquire as to whether the victim had ever had a sexual encounter with his client and also refused to allow Appellant Williams to recall any of his witnesses to testify that they had purchased drugs from the victim. At the conclusion of the trial, appellants were found guilty as charged. On appeal, appellants raise four issues.

Addressing first the question of whether the trial court erred in denying appellants' motions for judgments of acquittal, we find that the trial court did not err. On review of a trial court's denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal, the test for determining the sufficiency of proof is whether the jury might reasonably conclude that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, is inconsistent with every reasonable hypothesis of the defendant's innocence, or, stated in another way, whether a reasonably minded jury must necessarily entertain a reasonable doubt of the accused's guilt. United States v. Diaz, 655 F.2d 580 (5th Cir.1981).

*953 Drawing every inference in favor of the State, the record is sufficient to support the convictions of both appellants. The evidence against Appellant Williams consisted of eyewitness testimony placing Williams at the scene of the crime on the morning of the break-in. In addition, Williams' fingerprints were found both outside (on the sliding glass door where entry was gained) and inside (on a dresser drawer) of the burglarized dwelling. As to Appellant Brown, the evidence consisted of testimony from an eyewitness who identified Brown as the driver of a vehicle which passed slowly by the victim's home and which was parked around the corner from the burglarized dwelling on the morning of the crime. Brown's fingerprints were also found on the outside of the sliding glass door where entry was gained into the burglarized dwelling.

Both appellants contend that the only evidence implicating them in the crime consists of fingerprint evidence. Based on this interpretation of the evidence, they argue that in order for this evidence to be sufficient to identify appellants as the perpetrators of the burglary, the State must show that the fingerprints could have only been made at the time the crime was committed. Appellants contend that the State failed to carry this burden. We disagree.

Preliminarily, we hold that, as to Appellant Williams, the fingerprint evidence is not the only evidence linking him with the crime. The eyewitness testimony from Mr. Thomas placing Williams at the scene of the crime constitutes competent evidence which implicates Williams in the crime in question. On this basis, we find that the evidence against Appellant Williams is sufficient to sustain his conviction even without establishing that his fingerprints could have been made only at the time of the crime.

Furthermore, even assuming that the fingerprint evidence was the sole evidence linking appellants to the crime, the evidence would be sufficient to support appellants' convictions. Although both appellants testified that they had been inside the burglarized dwelling before the date of the crime, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, there can be no question that the State carried its burden by showing, prima facie, that appellants' fingerprints could have only been made at the time the crime was committed. Both residents of the burglarized dwelling testified that neither appellant had ever been invited inside their home.

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Brown v. State, 424 So. 2d 950 (Fla. Ct. App. 1983).

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