Coleman v. State

484 So. 2d 624, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 550
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided March 3, 1986·No. BF-366·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

484 So.2d 624 (1986)

George A. COLEMAN, Jr., Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. BF-366.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

March 3, 1986.

*625 Ted A. Stokes, Milton, for appellant.

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

ZEHMER, Judge.

George Coleman appeals a final judgment entered upon jury verdict finding him guilty of sexual battery upon a person eleven years of age or younger and sentencing him to life imprisonment without parole for twenty-five years. Appellant raises a variety of issues on appeal, none of which merit reversal.

On October 11, 1984, appellant was charged with committing a sexual battery upon M.D., a nine-year-old, between July 1, 1983, and September 30, 1983, by penetrating M.D.'s mouth with his penis, in violation of section 794.011(2), Florida Statutes (1983). On February 5, 1985, the state served appellant with a notice of proof of other criminal offenses, advising appellant that the state intended to introduce at trial proof of other occurrences of similar sexual batteries by appellant against both the victim and other children. On February 19, the jury was selected and sworn to try the case, and trial was set for February 22.

On the afternoon of February 20, appellant filed a motion in limine and a motion for statement of particulars. Appellant alleged that a statement of particulars was necessary in order to identify the specific act of sexual battery constituting the charged offense. Appellant pointed out that prior depositions of M.D. in collateral cases had revealed that between the dates charged in the information appellant had allegedly sexually battered M.D. on more than one occasion. Appellant argued that if the charged offense was not stated with particularity then any of the alleged batteries occurring between the dates charged in the information could be used by the state to justify admission of proof of other criminal offenses.

The state, on the other hand, took the position that it was not required to make any election as to a specific act because appellant had not filed his motion for statement of particulars until jeopardy had attached, i.e., the jury had been impaneled and sworn. The trial judge denied the motion on the ground that it was untimely since defense counsel had been on the case for four months and during that time had access to the deposition of the victim in which he identified several alleged sexual batteries by appellant. The court also indicated that appellant had not demonstrated prejudice and, in fact, that appellant might benefit from not having a statement of particulars because all the alleged instances of sexual abuse between the dates in the information will have jeopardy attach and he would not be able to be retried under double-jeopardy principles.

Appellant sought through the motion in limine to exclude evidence of other criminal offenses, arguing that under section 90.404(2), Florida Statutes (1983), and Williams v. State, 110 So.2d 654 (Fla. 1959), the collateral criminal offenses were inadmissible because they were irrelevant to the charged offense and not sufficiently similar in nature. Prior to the beginning of trial on February 22 the court read into the record a lengthy oral order denying the motion in limine, in which it thoroughly analyzed all cases which had been brought to its attention by the parties and ruled that evidence of other criminal offenses was admissible for one or more of the following reasons:

1. It may tend to establish the capacity of defendant to obtain an erection or demonstrate that he is not impotent, therefore supporting the credibility of his having a sexual interest to be expressed by sexual contact with other persons.

2. It may demonstrate or tend to demonstrate the capacity of defendant to obtain gratification from oral sex with young children.

3. It may tend to support motive in that defendant finds oral sex with children to be *626 gratifying, which supports an inference that he had a motive to have such a relationship with a child, as opposed to an adult.

4. It may deal with the issue and support relevant findings or inferences by the jury on the issue of absence of a mistake or accident or intent.

5. It may support inferences dealing with a common plan or method of operation or pattern of conduct.

Before counsels' opening statements at trial, the judge inquired of the jurors if any had seen an article regarding appellant's case in that day's local newspaper. The article was accompanied by a large picture of appellant and the headline read, "Former Resident: Man Faces Second Sexual Battery Trial." In the body of the article was a statement that appellant had recently been convicted of sexually battering another child. Two jurors responded that they had noticed the article, but upon inquiry they indicated they had not read it and would not be prejudiced thereby. Appellant's motion for a mistrial on this basis was denied.

The evidence at trial showed that appellant had ordered and succeeded in having M.D. perform oral sex upon him three times during the time period charged in the information, first in appellant's bedroom, second by a shed, and third in a pickup truck. Additionally, K.G. and C.S., stepdaughters of appellant, and S.C., son of appellant, testified that they had been ordered by appellant to perform and, with respect to the first two children, had actually performed oral sex upon appellant while they cohabited with him during the time period specified. The trial judge properly instructed the jury on the limited purposes for which the collateral act testimony was to be received. Appellant moved for a mistrial on grounds that the collateral act testimony had impermissibly become a "feature of the trial." Noting that the testimony was of limited duration and that the jury had been properly instructed, the court denied the motion.

At the conclusion of the state's case, appellant moved for a judgment of acquittal, alleging that an adult who arranges for a child to perform oral sex upon him does not commit the crime of sexual battery as a matter of law under the plain wording of the statute involved. The motion was denied. Appellant then countered the testimony of the victim and the three collateral fact witnesses by presenting the testimony of five female relatives that he had a reputation for truthfulness in the community. Appellant took the stand, denied the allegations, and alleged that the testimony of the state's witnesses had been orchestrated by the victim's mother, who was angry with appellant for breaking off their alleged affair.

At the close of the case, the judge denied appellant's renewed motion for judgment of acquittal. The trial resumed on February 25 with a jury charge conference, and appellant requested that the jury be instructed on the possible penalties for the capital sexual battery charge pursuant to rule 3.390(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. The judge denied this request on the ground that binding case law had held that the death penalty could not actually be imposed for sexual battery and therefore it should not be considered a "capital" offense within the meaning of rule 3.390(a), requiring jury instructions on penalties in capital cases.

Following the prosecutor's closing argument, appellant unsuccessfully renewed his motion for mistrial on grounds that the state's collateral act evidence had become a feature of the trial. The judge then instructed the jurors that they were to decide the case only upon the evidence submitted, but he did not instruct them on possible penalties for the crimes charged.

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Coleman v. State, 484 So. 2d 624, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 550 (Fla. Ct. App. 1986).

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