Stanley v. State

57 So. 3d 944, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 4362, 2011 WL 1135284
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 30, 2011
DocketNo. 4D09-2819
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 57 So. 3d 944 (Stanley 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
Stanley v. State, 57 So. 3d 944, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 4362, 2011 WL 1135284 (Fla. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

DAMOORGIAN, J.

Defendant, Prentice Stanley, appeals his judgment and sentence for first degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Stanley was convicted of both counts and sentenced to life in prison. Stanley raises four issues for our review. Finding no merit to Defendant’s arguments, we affirm his judgment and sentence.

By way of background, the victim, Mah-moud Mansour, was the general manager of a clothing manufacturer in Ft. Lauder-dale, Florida. While at work, Mansour observed a 2004 Nissan Titan being driven by someone later identified as Stanley enter the company parking lot and drive up to a metal container that held boxes of clothing. Mansour became suspicious and attempted to close the parking lot gate. The truck’s driver drove the truck through the gate, running over Mansour who later died of his injuries.

Stanley was arrested for the crime and charged by indictment with first degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Testimony at trial revealed that the truck used in the crime had recently been reported stolen. It was found abandoned near the scene of the crime. Stanley’s fingerprints were found in multiple places on the truck. Additionally, a friend of Stanley’s testified that Stanley had confessed to him that he was the perpetrator. This friend contacted the [947]*947police and alerted them to Stanley’s whereabouts.

On appeal, Stanley argues that the trial court erred by: 1) instructing the jury that Stanley could be convicted on either of two theories of first degree murder; to wit: premeditated murder and felony murder despite the fact that the indictment charged only felony murder; 2) introducing 911 tapes which allegedly contained hearsay statements; and 3) admitting seventeen autopsy photographs into evidence. Stanley also argues that his conviction violates the double jeopardy clause.

Stanley first argues that the Grand Jury’s indictment charged him under a felony murder theory while the jury’s instructions allowed for a conviction under a premeditated murder theory. The True Bill returned by the Grand Jury stated that Stanley “[Ujnlawfully and feloniously while ... engaged in the commission of, attempting to commit or escaping from the immediate scene of a Burglary and/or a Robbery, did kill and murder the said Mahmoud Mansour against the form of the statute in such case pursuant to [sjections 782.04(1).”

Section 782.04, Florida Statutes (2007), titled “Murder,” addresses “[t]he unlawful killing of a human being” and covers both killings “perpetrated from a premeditated design” and those “committed by a person engaged in the perpetration” of certain felonies. §§ 782.04(l)(a)l. and 782.04(l)(a)2.

Stanley contends that the Grand Jury indicted him solely for first degree felony murder. However, when the court provided the jury with its instructions, it indicated that when a defendant is charged with first degree murder, he could be convicted on either a theory of premeditation or a theory of felony murder. The court then described the elements of both premeditated murder and felony murder. At closing argument, the State repeated the claim that Stanley could be convicted of first degree murder on a premeditation theory. The jury found that “[t]he Defendant is [gjuilty of Murder in the First Degree, as charged in the indictment.”

Stanley did not object at the time of the alleged errors. If a jury instruction is not objected to at the time of the alleged error, the error must be fundamental to be raised on appeal. State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643, 645 (Fla.1991).

According to Stanley, the trial court’s jury instructions and the prosecutor’s closing statement constructively amended the indictment. See United States v. Barrios-Perez, 317 F.3d 777, 779 (8th Cir.2003). A constructive amendment of a charging document “ ‘allow[s] the jury to convict the defendant of an offense different from or in addition to the offenses alleged in the indictment.’ ” Id. at 779 (quoting United States v. Emery, 186 F.3d 921, 927 (8th Cir.1999)). This is a due process violation which constitutes fundamental error. Crain v. State, 894 So.2d 59, 69 (Fla.2004).

The law does not support Stanley’s claim that the indictment was constructively amended. In O’Callaghan v. State, 429 So.2d 691, 695 (Fla.1983), our Supreme Court held that “ ‘the state does not have to charge felony murder in the indictment but may prosecute the charge of first-degree murder under a theory of felony murder when the indictment charges premeditated murder.’” Id. at 695 (quoting State v. Pinder, 375 So.2d 836, 839 (Fla.1979)). Finding no prejudice, the court concluded that a criminal defendant, “because of our reciprocal discovery rules, [has] full knowledge of both the charges and the evidence that the state would submit at trial.” Id. at 695; see also Kearse v. State, 662 So.2d 677, 682 (Fla.1995) [948]*948(“The State need not charge felony murder in an indictment in order to prosecute a defendant under alternative theories of premeditated and felony murder when the indictment charges premeditated murder.”)-

We hold that if a conviction under a felony murder- theory is legal where the indictment charged premeditated murder, as was the case in O’Callaghan, then a conviction under a premeditated murder theory is legal where the indictment charged felony murder, as is the case here. See also Deparvine v. State, 995 So.2d 351 (Fla.2008).

Stanley next argues that the trial court erred by permitting the introduction of recordings of 911 calls. At trial, the State moved to enter into evidence several 911 calls made by witnesses to the crime. Some of these witnesses did not testify at trial. Defense counsel objected on hearsay grounds to the introduction of “any 911 calls that are not from a person who has testified in this case.” The State argued that while the recordings were hearsay, they were nonetheless admissible as either excited utterances or present sense impressions.

“[Wjhether evidence falls within the statutory definition of hearsay is a matter of law, subject to de novo review.” Burkey v. State, 922 So.2d 1033, 1035 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). The excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule applies if the statement in question is “[a] statement or excited utterance relating to a startling event or condition made while the declar-ant was under the stress of excitement caused by the event or condition.” § 90.803(2), Fla. Stat. (2007).

In Barron v. State, 990 So.2d 1098 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007), the defendant was alleged to have participated in an armed home invasion, in which one of the witnesses was shot. Immediately after the shooting, several anonymous 911 calls were made to obtain assistance. Id. at 1101. In concluding that the trial court did not err by permitting the introduction of the 911 tapes, the district court noted that “[t]he anonymous calls were placed close to the violent events, thereby precluding an opportunity to contrive or misrepresent.” Id. In this case, the 911 calls were made immediately after the crime, were not in response to the police investigation, and were made to request assistance.1

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101 So. 3d 888 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2012)
Stanley v. Florida
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Bluebook (online)
57 So. 3d 944, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 4362, 2011 WL 1135284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stanley-v-state-fladistctapp-2011.