DESMOND BRODERICK, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the admission of impermissible collateral crime evidence was not harmless error and required reversal, and that the habitual offender statute does not violate due process by allowing consideration of uncounseled prior convictions.
[1] Evidence of collateral crimes is inadmissible unless offered for a relevant purpose other than to prove the character of the defendant.
[2] A mistrial should be granted when there is a reasonable possibility that impermissible collateral crime evidence contributed to a conviction.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was convicted of armed robbery after an officer testified about similar prior incidents, despite a motion in limine to exclude such evidence…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Collateral Crime Evidence cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
We reverse appellant’s conviction of armed robbery and the life sentence which the court imposed under the habitual offender statute, section 775.084, Florida Statutes (Supp.1988), and remand for a new trial.
Appellant and a companion attempted to steal nine cartons of cigarettes from a 7-11 store in Miramar. The store manager caught them and told them to stop, grabbing appellant from behind. The companion pulled out a knife and told the manager to let appellant go; the manager did so. Appellant ran out of the store. The companion stayed a moment longer, brandishing the knife, and then ran.
The store manager gave the Miramar police a description of the suspects which matched that of the suspects in several similar cases that the police had been investigating, and appellant was arrested.
The appellant successfully moved in limine to exclude from the arresting officer’s testimony at trial any reference to the other cases under investigation because they were evidence of collateral crimes and were therefore inadmissible.
After the state indicated that the officer was having difficulty understanding why he could not testify as to the prior acts, the court admonished the officer to testify only that he had found appellant “through further investigation.” Yet, at trial, the officer said, “I became aware that there was [sic] other incidents similar to this incident with the description being the same.” Appellant immediately moved for a mistrial, which was denied. The jury convicted appellant of armed robbery.
The officer’s testimony was impermissible collateral crime evidence. § 90.404(2), Fla. Stat.; Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla.), cert. denied, 361 U.S. 847, 80 S.Ct. 102, 4 L.Ed.2d 86 (1959). It was not offered for any relevant purpose; rather, it came out at trial despite the combined efforts of the trial court and counsel.
The court gave the jury a three-pronged charge. Under the charge, the jury could find that appellant committed one of the following: armed robbery with a weapon, if he knew that his accomplice carried a weapon; robbery without a weapon, if he did not know his accomplice carried a weapon; or petty theft. We cannot say that the officer’s reference to “other incidents similar to this” one did not influence or have any effect upon the jury’s decision. Particularly, the jurors may have thought that the other similar incidents to which he referred were robberies involving weapons. Thus, we are unable to conclude that there was no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the conviction. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986).
We take this opportunity to address another point of the appeal. The state served notice that it sought to have the court sentence appellant as a habitual offender under section 775.084. A presen-tence investigation revealed that appellant had two prior convictions, one for cocaine possession and one for cocaine purchase, leading the trial court to declare appellant a habitual offender. Appellant challenges the constitutionality of the habitual offender statute on several grounds.
The second and fifth districts recently reviewed the constitutionality of this statute and concluded that it is constitutional. See Roberts v. State, 559 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Long v. State, 558 So. 2d 1091 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990); King v. State, 557 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). We agree; however, this case raises an additional issue.
Appellant argues that, in determining whether he had prior convictions for the purpose of the habitual offender statute, the court relied on a prior conviction that was the result of an uncounseled plea; that subsection (l)(a)(4) specifically excludes from consideration convictions set aside in post-conviction proceedings; that because uncounseled convictions are not listed as an exclusion, the statute must contemplate that the court may consider them; and that, in allowing this, the statute violates his right to due process. We disagree.
Under the sixth amendment to the United States constitution, when a court is considering whether to sentence a defendant more harshly as a result of the defendant’s prior convictions, the court must give the defendant a meaningful opportunity to show that he had a right to counsel for each of those prior offenses and that he did not waive that right. The court cannot consider any conviction for which the defendant did not waive his right to counsel. Baldasar v. Illinois, 446 U.S. 222, 100 S.Ct. 1585, 64 L.Ed.2d 169 (1980); Leffew v. State, 518 So. 2d 1376 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Pilla v. State, 477 So. 2d 1088 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).
We do not read section 775.084 as defeating or even affecting this right. A defendant may introduce relevant evidence for consideration at the habitualization hearing, which would include proof that he did not waive his right to counsel for the convictions upon which the court intends to rely in habitualizing him.
We see no merit in any of the appellant’s other contentions.
ANSTEAD, GLICKSTEIN and WARNER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Bozeman v. State, 698 So. 2d 629 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…According to the witness, to be placed in the unit, an inmate must have been “maladjusted,” “violent,” and “have exhibited the propensity for violent behavior towards other inmates and staff.” Such testimony is inadmissible. See Broderick v. State, 564 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Bolden v. State, 543 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989); Smart v. State, 596 So. 2d 786 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). Additionally, Wimberly’s portrayal of the unit’s inmates is legally problematic because it was specific evidence of Bozeman…
-
Miller v. State, 568 So. 2d 452 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…We deny the motion but acknowledge that we have rejected appellant’s claim that the habitual offender statute is facially unconstitutional. Johnson v. State, 564 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Broderick v. State, 564 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990).…
-
Derek v. Brazil, 604 So. 2d 915 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…view granted, 590 So. 2d 421 (Fla.1991); Pittman v. State, 570 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), review denied, 581 So. 2d 166 (Fla. 1991); Barber v. State, 564 So. 2d 1169 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied, 576 So. 2d 284 (Fla.1990); Broderick v. State, 564 So. 2d 622 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); King v. State, 557 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 564 So. 2d 1086 (Fla.1990). We affirm the habitual offender sentences imposed in this ease, but in concert with this court’s determination in Hodges, we certify the…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (11 total)
- State v. DiGUILIO, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1986)
- Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 1959)
- Williams v. Florida, 361 U.S. 847 (U.S. 1959)
- White v. Illinois, 361 U.S. 847 (U.S. 1959)
- Baldasar v. Illinois, 446 U.S. 222 (U.S. 1980)
- Caracciolo v. State, 557 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
- Flowers v. State, 559 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
- Roberts v. State, 559 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)
- Pilla v. State, 477 So. 2d 1088 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)
- Long v. State, 558 So. 2d 1091 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)