Rogers v. State

660 So. 2d 237, 1995 WL 273939
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 11, 1995
Docket76456
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 660 So. 2d 237 (Rogers v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. State, 660 So. 2d 237, 1995 WL 273939 (Fla. 1995).

Opinion

660 So.2d 237 (1995)

Stanley Ray ROGERS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 76456.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 11, 1995.
Rehearing Denied September 11, 1995.

*238 Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender and Jeffrey L. Anderson, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Celia A. Terenzio, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Stanley Ray Rogers, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals his conviction of first-degree murder and the penalty imposed. He also appeals his convictions and sentences for two counts of kidnapping and one count of attempted sexual battery. We have jurisdiction based on article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution.

Rogers was convicted of fatally shooting Mark Hastings, a man who agreed to give him a ride home from a nightclub. Because we find a lack of evidence to support a first-degree murder conviction, we reverse Rogers' conviction and remand with directions that the trial court enter a judgment of guilty of second-degree murder and resentence Rogers. In addition, we reverse Rogers' convictions and sentences for attempted sexual battery and kidnapping.

The jury convicted Rogers of first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder, then recommended death by a vote of ten to two. The trial judge followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Rogers to death. In imposing the death penalty, the trial judge found three aggravating factors: (1) the murder was committed by someone under a sentence of imprisonment; (2) Rogers was previously convicted of another capital felony or a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person; and (3) Rogers committed the murder while engaged in the commission of certain enumerated felonies. §§ 921.141(5)(a), 921.141(5)(b), 921.141(5)(d), Fla. Stat. (1989). The trial judge found no statutory or nonstatutory mitigating factors.

Rene Daniel met Mark Hastings at a club on April 2, 1989, while she was attending a going-away party with friends. Daniel stayed at the club after her friends left and talked to Hastings. The two walked to Daniel's car at about 12:30 a.m. While the two talked in the parking lot, a man, later identified as Rogers, approached them and asked for a flashlight. Although neither Daniel nor Hastings had a flashlight, Hastings suggested that the man ask the club's bouncer for one. Instead, Rogers went to his car, which he had been trying to start. Rogers later returned to Daniel and Hastings and asked for a ride to his home about a half-mile away. Daniel and Hastings agreed to give him a ride. Although it was Daniel's car, Hastings drove. Daniel sat in the passenger seat and Rogers rode in the back seat.

Daniel testified that she turned around as they drove and saw Rogers holding a gun to the back of Hastings' head. Rogers then told Daniel to take off her clothes, but she refused. Rogers later reached over the seat and squeezed her left breast. Daniel testified that she said, "Please — please don't do that," and Rogers stopped.

*239 Later in the drive, Daniel said Hastings slowed the car down, turned into a convenience store parking lot, and turned around. Rogers then told Hastings to take the next right, but Hastings drove by the street. Rogers told him to take the next right turn or he would pull the trigger. Hastings did not turn. Daniel said she turned around and saw that Hastings had pinned Rogers against the back of the seat. Daniel testified that Hastings told her to get out of the car and run. She heard a horn, then a gunshot as she fled.

She ran to a nearby apartment, where two women opened the door and let her use the phone to call police. Sheriff's deputies tracked footprints and found Rogers underneath a tree. Rogers had a gun in his pocket with two live rounds and one spent round. Daniel identified Rogers as the man who had been riding in her car.

Witnesses found Hastings slumped over the steering wheel. He had been shot once in the head from a distance of at least twelve to fifteen inches. He died in the hospital on the night of April 3, 1989.

Rogers testified that he drank during the day of April 2, then went to the club. He got a ride home to pick up a car he had recently purchased for $100, but when he returned to the club, the engine cut out and the car would not start. Rogers said he worked on the car, then asked Daniel and Hastings for a flashlight. They did not have one, and he still could not start his car. He decided to leave the car, but took a gun from the glove compartment so he would not have to leave the weapon with his vehicle.

Rogers testified that he offered Hastings cocaine in exchange for a ride home, and Hastings later became angry because he did not have the cocaine. He denied touching Daniel's breast during the ride. When Hastings refused to make a right turn, Rogers told him, "[L]ook I've got a gun, let me out of this damn car." Hastings did not appear to believe Rogers, so Rogers said he tapped him on the shoulder with the weapon. Rogers said he pulled the gun because he was scared. Hastings began to slow down, but did not stop the car completely. Rogers said he tried to get out of the car, but Hastings turned around and grabbed his hand. He pinned Rogers, and the two struggled with the gun. Rogers pushed Hastings away, and the gun fired. He testified that "I felt I was fighting for my life and the — the gun went off accidentally."

Rogers raises twenty-eight issues on this direct appeal.[1] Because we reverse Rogers' *240 first-degree murder conviction, the penalty-phase issues are rendered moot and we discuss only the guilt-phase issues.

When Daniel ran from the car, she went immediately to a nearby apartment. She banged on the door, and the two women who lived there let her use the phone to call police. One of the women, Laura Dunne, was allowed to testify to statements Daniel made after she placed the telephone call. Those statements described the events at the club and in the car. Rogers contends that it was error to admit this testimony because it was hearsay and not admissible as an excited utterance. We disagree.

An excited utterance is defined as "[a] statement or excited utterance relating to a startling event or condition made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by the event or condition." § 90.803(2), Fla. Stat. (1989). An excited utterance is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule because the declarant does not have the reflective capacity necessary for conscious misrepresentation. Thus, statements made by someone who is excited are spontaneous and have sufficient guarantees of truthfulness. See Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 803.2 (1994 ed.).

A statement qualifies for admission as an excited utterance when (1) there is an event startling enough to cause nervous excitement; (2) the statement was made before there was time for reflection; and (3) the statement was made while the person was under the stress of the excitement from the startling event. State v. Jano, 524 So.2d 660, 661 (Fla. 1988).

That a startling event occurred here is beyond question. The real questions are whether Daniel had time for reflection and whether she made her statement while still excited from the startling event.

The test regarding the time elapsed is not a bright-line rule of hours or minutes.

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Bluebook (online)
660 So. 2d 237, 1995 WL 273939, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-state-fla-1995.