Pantoja v. State

990 So. 2d 626, 2008 WL 4073348
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 4, 2008
Docket1D06-2810
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 990 So. 2d 626 (Pantoja v. State) 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
Pantoja v. State, 990 So. 2d 626, 2008 WL 4073348 (Fla. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

990 So.2d 626 (2008)

Juan PANTOJA, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 1D06-2810.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

September 4, 2008.

*627 Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Kathleen Stover, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

*628 Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Giselle Lylen Rivera, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

LEWIS, J.

Juan Pantoja, Appellant, challenges his conviction and sentence for sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation. He raises two issues on appeal, and we affirm as to both issues. Only one of the issues, whether the trial court erred in excluding evidence that the victim recanted a prior accusation of molestation against another person, merits discussion. We hold that the trial court properly excluded this evidence under the well-settled rule that a witness' credibility may not be attacked by proof that she committed specific acts of misconduct that did not end in a criminal conviction. We find the instant case factually indistinguishable from Jaggers v. State, 536 So.2d 321 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988), where the Second District reached a contrary holding. Accordingly, in affirming the trial court, we certify conflict with the Second District's opinion in Jaggers.

Before Appellant's trial, the State filed a motion in limine, requesting that the defense be prohibited from asking questions concerning an allegation that the victim's uncle, T.D.,[1] had inappropriately touched her. Appellant argued that he should be permitted to present evidence that the victim had accused T.D. of molesting her and later admitted the accusation was false. He proffered the testimony of the victim's grandmother and aunt, who were also T.D.'s mother and sister, respectively. Both of these witnesses stated that the victim told them she had lied about T.D. because she was mad at him, although they gave different reasons for the victim's alleged anger at T.D. Appellant's counsel also cross-examined the victim outside the presence of the jury. During that cross-examination, the victim testified that T.D. had sexually abused her. She denied having recanted her previous statements about the incident. Appellant's counsel then attempted to impeach the victim with the following statement from her deposition: "I told my aunt [C.M.D.] once about Juan touching me, but I guess she might have gotten mad at my uncle and said that he did it to Nanna because my nanna will believe anything."[2] Finally, Appellant proffered the testimony of Mary Van Tassel, a Headstart counselor who had worked closely with the victim's family. In proffer, Van Tassel testified that, after observing a change in the victim's behavior, she asked the victim if Appellant and T.D. had touched her inappropriately. Van Tassel then testified that the victim "said very quietly with her head down ... and looking away, `No,' ... And she had tears in her eyes and ... she stopped talking." Van Tassel further testified the victim denied that T.D. touched her in a sexual way. The trial court ruled that the defense could not cross-examine the victim about her allegations against T.D. or solicit extrinsic evidence on the subject.

Although Appellant was not permitted to impeach the victim with her allegedly false prior report of molestation, he did present to the jury several other grounds *629 for discrediting her testimony. In cross-examination, Appellant's attorney questioned the victim regarding perceived inconsistencies between her out-of-court statements and her trial testimony, as well as between her direct testimony and her testimony on cross. Additionally, Appellant's attorney asked the victim if she had told Mary Van Tassel that Appellant had not molested her. The victim denied having made such a statement to Van Tassel. Appellant later called Van Tassel as a witness, and she testified that when she asked the victim if Appellant had touched her, the victim "said no ma'am, and she dropped her head and looked away."

An examination of the applicable sections of the Florida Evidence Code and provisions of the state and federal constitutions reveals that the trial court properly excluded all references to the victim's allegedly false prior accusation against her uncle, who was not the defendant in this case. We begin our discussion by explaining the proper methods of impeaching a witness, as codified in the Evidence Code and further explicated by the Florida Supreme Court. In doing so, we adhere to the position we stated in Roebuck v. State, 953 So.2d 40 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007), which is that this Court is not empowered to create exceptions to the statutory sections governing impeachment of witnesses. Next, we will address Appellant's argument that failure to recognize an exception in the instant case is a violation of his right to confront witnesses, as set forth in article I, section 16, subsection (a) of the state constitution and the Sixth Amendment of the federal constitution. Because we conclude that Appellant has not stated a basis for admission of the proffered evidence in either statutory or constitutional law, we conclude that his judgment and sentence must be affirmed.

In Florida, a witness may not be impeached by any means not recognized in the Evidence Code. See Rose v. State, 472 So.2d 1155, 1157-58 (Fla.1985) (holding that a trial court properly refused to allow impeachment by a means not listed in section 90.608, Florida Statutes (1983)). Section 90.608 provides a complete list of the proper ways to attack a witness' credibility:

(1) Introducing statements of the witness which are inconsistent with the witness's present testimony.
(2) Showing that the witness is biased.
(3) Attacking the character of the witness in accordance with the provisions of s. 90.609 or s. 90.610.
(4) Showing a defect of capacity, ability, or opportunity in the witness to observe, remember, or recount the matters about which the witness testified.
(5) Proof by other witnesses that material facts are not as testified to by the witness being impeached.

Section 90.609(1) permits credibility attacks in the form of evidence that the witness has a poor reputation for truthfulness, but it does not authorize proof of the witness' character for truthfulness or untruthfulness by evidence of specific acts. But cf. Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 609.1 at 574 (noting that a witness who has testified regarding a person's good reputation for truthfulness may be cross-examined regarding that person's specific acts of misconduct). Section 90.610 provides for impeachment based on a witness' conviction for a crime punishable by more than one year in prison or a crime that involves dishonesty or a false statement. Other than this limited exception, the Evidence Code does not provide for impeachment of a witness by evidence of prior acts of misconduct. Roebuck, 953 So.2d at 41. Therefore, trial courts should *630 not allow impeachment by such means. Id.

Calling this evidentiary rule a "broad general principle of law," the Second District Court of Appeal has developed "an exception applicable to particular circumstances." Jaggers v. State, 536 So.2d at 327. Although the Jaggers

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Eaton v. State
275 So. 3d 1293 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2019)
Stephen Allen Eaton Jr v. State of Florida
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2019
Byrd v. State
221 So. 3d 659 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
Pantoja v. State
59 So. 3d 1092 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2011)
Harvey v. State
68 So. 3d 255 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
Eaglin v. State
19 So. 3d 935 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2009)
Johnson v. State
10 So. 3d 1207 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
990 So. 2d 626, 2008 WL 4073348, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pantoja-v-state-fladistctapp-2008.