MARCUS JAMAL JERRY v. STATE OF FLORIDA

225 So. 3d 246, 2017 WL 2859226, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 9635
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 5, 2017
Docket4D15-3921
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 225 So. 3d 246 (MARCUS JAMAL JERRY v. STATE OF FLORIDA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MARCUS JAMAL JERRY v. STATE OF FLORIDA, 225 So. 3d 246, 2017 WL 2859226, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 9635 (Fla. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Forst, J.

In this appeal from convictions and life sentences for two counts of first degree murder with a firearm while wearing a mask, two counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm while wearing a mask, and one count of robbery with a firearm while wearing a mask, Appellant *248 Marcus Jerry raises four issues for; our consideration. We hold, without further discussion, that Appellant did not properly preserve his first issue on appeal, and. we affirm without prejudice to Appellant raising his attorney’s failure to preserve the arguments made with respect to this issue in a 3.850 post-:Conviction motion alleging ineffective assistance. 1 Otherwise, as discussed herein, we determine that Appellant’s arguments on the remaining three issues are without merit, although we independently note a problem with Appellant’s sentence separate from the issue raised by counsel. Our affirmance on this issue is without prejudice for Appellant to raise á post-cúnviction motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) or another appropriate rule to correct his sentence.

Background

Early one morning, a convenience store was robbed. One man first cased the store to see who was present. After he left, two men, masked and armed, entered. Inside, the two masked men shot and killed two customers, shot at but missed two employees, and stole money from the register. When the two men returned to their vehicle, they drove away.

During law enforcement’s investigation of these crimes, officers located the man who was seen on video casing the store. He claimed that there were four men involved—two other men were the masked men who entered the store, and Appellant was the getaway driver. The first man (“the Witness”) then identified Appellant in two photographic line-ups.

Before the eventual severing of Appellant’s case from the cases against the two actual shooters, Appellant filed a notice with the court stating that he “adopts and joins in any and all previously motions filed on behalf of any of the co-defendants in this case to what ever [sic] effect they may have on the above named defendant.”. The notice failed to specify any particular motion or motions Appellant sought to adopt. The trial court treated this notice as a motion and denied it without a hearing. The court found that, the motion was “vague, non-specific and non-descript,” and stated that the court “ha[d] no idea” which motions Appellant was attempting to adopt. The. order did suggest, however, that the court would be receptive to a future motion by Appellant to adopt his co-defendants’ motions if specific ones were identified by title or docket number. No future motion was ever filed.

The last piece of trial evidence relevant on appeal was the introduction of the lineup photos used by the Witness to identify Appellant. The latter objected to these photos only on the basis that the photos were overly prejudicial because- they revealed a small facial tattoo which Appellant, with the court’s permission, had attempted to hide from the jury throughout the trial.

The jury convicted Appellant on all counts. However, it found that Appellant did not actually possess a firearm or wear a mask, even while determining that he was guilty of the crimes “with a firearm while wearing a mask.”

Analysis

As noted above, we affirm Appellant’s first issue (as to whether the trial court erred by- admitting testimony regarding the contents .of Appellant’s cell phone and/or the historical phone records from Appellant’s provider) without discussion, as this issue was not preserved in the trial court through a proper and timely objection on the specific legal ground raised on appeal. Aills v. Boemi, 29 So.3d 1105, 1109 (Fla. 2010).

*249 Appellant’s second issue on appeal argues that the trial court .erred by admitting the photo line-ups used by the Witness to identify Appellant. We review the trial court’s determination for an abuse of discretion. Mazza v. State, 25 So.3d 659, 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). Defendant’s argument in his briefs appeared to be that the identification process was unduly suggestive. See id. To the extent that this is his argument, we hold both that this issue was unpreserved 2 and that it is without merit. 3 However, at oral argument, Appellant’s attorney clarified that his argument was solely regarding the prejudicial nature of the photographs. See § 90,403, Fla. Stat. (2015). Although this Court was able to locate the small tattoo on Appellant’s face after a close examination of the photographs in the record, we cannot determine from the trial transcript whether this tattoo would have also been visible to the jury when they looked at Appellant’s face in the courtroom. 4 The record does not clearly demonstrate that the trial court abused its discretion in determining that the probative value of the line-up photo was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

Appellant next argues that the trial court reversibly erred by denying his motion to adopt all motions filed by his co-defendants. Although he is correct that adoption by reference is a well-accepted practice, Appellant’s motion in this case was not an adoption by reference so much as it was a request for the court to wade through the entire' records of multiple cases searching for anything that might benefit Defendant. Although they .arise from different circumstances, we adopt here the reasoning of Simmons v. State, 42 So.3d 823 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), and Spera v. State, 971 So.2d 754 (Fla. 2007). In those cases, this Court and the Florida Supreme Court held that the appropriate disposition of a vague motion is to allow for a more precise motion to be made. Simmons, 42 So.3d at 824; Spera, 971 So.2d at 761. Here, that is exactly what happened. The trial court, justifiably unwilling to shoulder the heavy burden of performing the task expected of Appellant’s counsel, denied Appellant’s motion without prejudice and invited Appellant to re-file a motion which identified the specific motions of his co-defendants he sought to adopt. We affirm the trial court’s handling of this matter.

Finally,' Appellant argues that his convictions must be reversed because the jury was inconsistent in finding him guilty of the charged crimes while simultaneously finding that he did not possess a gun or wear a mask. “An inconsistent verdicts claim presents a pure question of law and is reviewed de novo.” Brown v. State, 959 So.2d 218, 220 (Fla. 2007). “As á general rule, inconsistent jury verdicts are permitted in Florida.” Id. (quoting State v. Powell, 674 So.2d 731, 732 (Fla. 1996)). Thé only exception to this rule is when'“an acquittal on one count negates a necessary element for conviction on another count.” Id. (quoting Powell, 674 So.2d at 733). Here, because thé jury did not acquit Ap *250 pellant of anything, this exception does'not apply.

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225 So. 3d 246, 2017 WL 2859226, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 9635, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marcus-jamal-jerry-v-state-of-florida-fladistctapp-2017.