Burk v. State, 85-1465
| Decision Date | 14 November 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-1465,85-1465 |
| Citation | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 2405,497 So.2d 731 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 2405 Norman BURK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and A.N. Radabaugh, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Davis G. Anderson, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
Appellant, Norman Burk, has appealed from a judgment and sentence imposed upon him pursuant to a jury verdict finding him guilty of first degree murder. We find that the trial court erred in refusing to allow appellant to testify concerning his knowledge of the victim's reputation for violence and, accordingly, reverse and remand for a new trial.
Appellant was charged with committing the crime of first-degree premeditated murder, a violation of section 782.04(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1983). Appellant did not deny shooting the deceased, Charles Morrise, but claimed that he had done so in self-defense. At trial, the state objected to appellant testifying concerning his knowledge of the victim's reputation in the community for violence. In sustaining the objection, the trial court stated that such testimony would be self-serving. At the conclusion of appellant's testimony, the defense rested and the jury was dismissed for the day. The next morning, the state announced it had erroneously objected to appellant's testimony. The state withdrew its objection and offered to allow appellant, subject to cross-examination, to answer a question as to the deceased's general reputation for violence in the community in which he lived, so long as appellant knew of that reputation. The court then stated it would allow the case to be reopened for that purpose. Appellant's attorney declined to accept the court's offer. He stated that if appellant were to testify, the door would be opened for cross-examination and that appellant might then need to bring in other witnesses for rebuttal. These witnesses had been available during trial, but had been released after the parties had rested their cases.
The jury was instructed that if it found that the deceased, Charles Morrise, had a reputation for being a violent and dangerous person and that his reputation was known to the appellant, it could consider this fact in determining whether the appellant's actions were those of a reasonable person dealing with an individual of that reputation. The jury found appellant guilty as charged. Upon appellant's motion, the court dispensed with the penalty phase of the proceedings on the ground that there were insufficient aggravating circumstances to warrant, as a matter of law, the death penalty. Appellant was subsequently adjudicated guilty and sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment with a minimum of twenty-five years without parole. This timely appeal followed.
Of all the points appellant has raised on appeal, we agree only with his contention that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to testify concerning the deceased's reputation for violence.
When a defendant pleads self-defense in a prosecution for murder and a proper foundation is laid at trial, evidence of the deceased's violent character is admissible if an issue exists as to either the deceased's conduct, i.e., whether he was the first aggressor, or the reasonableness of the defendant's belief concerning imminent danger from the deceased. See Hodge v. State, 315 So.2d 507 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975); Banks v. State, 351 So.2d 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA), cert. denied, 354 So.2d 986 (Fla.1977); Williams v. State, 252 So.2d 243 (Fla. 4th DCA), cert. denied, 255 So.2d 682 (Fla.1971); see also, Pino v. Koebler, 389 So.2d 1191 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). In this case, evidence of the circumstances of the homicide tended to support the claim of self-defense. Appellant testified that the deceased approached him in a threatening manner and that, when the deceased reached into his pocket, he made a motion which caused appellant to believe he was going for a weapon. Appellant testified that for these reasons, he became afraid and shot the deceased. Because an issue existed as to the reasonableness of the appellant's belief concerning the imminent danger from the deceased, the court erred in refusing to allow appellant to testify concerning his knowledge of the...
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Lozano v. State
...was the first aggressor, or the reasonableness of the defendant's belief concerning imminent danger from the deceased. Burk v. State, 497 So.2d 731 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). Evidence regarding prior arrests and bad acts of a victim is also admissible to show a reasonable apprehension of harm on t......
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...to allow a case to be reopened involves sound judicial discretion, not usually interfered with on the appellate level, Burk v. State, 497 So.2d 731, 733 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), a denial will be reversed where the request is timely made and the jury will be deprived of evidence which might have ......
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