Fleming v. State, 83-930

• Decision Date: 24 August 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-930,83-930
• Citation: 457 So.2d 499
• Parties: Arthur R. FLEMING, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 499

457 So.2d 499

Arthur R. FLEMING, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 83-930.

District Court of Appeal of Florida Second District.

Aug. 24, 1984.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 23, 1984.

Richard G. Pippinger of Cohen & Pippinger, Tampa, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and M. Ann Garrison, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

BOARDMAN, Acting Chief Judge.

The jury convicted appellant Arthur R. Fleming of manslaughter of his estranged wife, Audra. We reverse and remand for a new trial on the basis of the evidentiary errors discussed below, which we believe compromised the fairness of the underlying proceedings.

The state charged Fleming with second degree murder and attempted to prove through circumstantial evidence that he killed his wife during a quarrel over issues raised in the couple's pending divorce. Under the state's theory, Audra utilized a romantic pretense to gain admission to her husband's apartment, where she subsequently confronted him about various personal and financial aspects of their divorce. Under the defense's theory of the case, however, an unknown intruder followed Audra into her husband's apartment and later killed her while she and appellant were engaged in a romantic reconciliation.

Four of the state's thirty-eight witnesses testified as to Audra Fleming's state of mind immediately before her death, describing in detail her stated adversarial purpose in visiting her husband and her proposed strategy for gaining admission to his apartment. The state defends the introduction of this testimony as relevant to rebut the suggested reconciliatory motive behind Audra's visit and as admissible under the state of mind exception to the hearsay rule. See § 90.803(3)(a), Fla.Stat. (1981). We disagree.

It is well settled that the state of mind exception codified in section 90.803(3)(a) admits qualifying extrajudicial statements only if the declarant's state of mind or performance of an intended act is at issue in the particular case. Bailey v. State, 419 So.2d 721, 722 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Kennedy v. State, 385 So.2d 1020, 1021-22 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980); Van Zant v. State, 372 So.2d 502, 504 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). It is equally clear that a homicide victim's state of mind prior to the fatal incident generally is neither at issue nor probative of any material issue raised in a murder prosecution. See Hunt v. State, 429 So.2d 811, 813 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); cases cited, supra. Moreover, even if the victim's state of mind is relevant under the particular facts of the case, the prejudice inherent in developing such evidence frequently outweighs the need for its introduction. See United States v. Brown, 490 F.2d 758, 762-67 (D.C.Cir.1973).

While exceptions exist to this general rule of inadmissibility, such as where the victim's state of mind is both relevant and necessary to rebut the defendant's claim of self-defense or his assertion that the decedent committed suicide or suffered an accidental death while toying with the murder weapon, see Kennedy, 385 So.2d at 1021 (quoting Brown, 490 F.2d at 767), none of these exceptions applies in the instant case. Conversely, under the circumstances presented, we must conclude that Audra Fleming's state of mind constituted a collateral concern which was of little consequence in determining the identity of her killer. Even if we were to find Audra's state of mind relevant to this controversy, we still would deem the challenged evidence inadmissible. Certainly the danger that the jury would misuse this evidence for the impermissible purpose of imputing a state of mind to appellant (specifically, rage resulting from a confrontation, and thus a motive for murder) outweighs the minimal importance of establishing the true purpose of Audra's visit. As case law makes clear, evidence cannot be admitted under the state of mind exception to prove the state of mind or motive of someone other than the declarant. United States v. Brown, 490 F.2d at 771; Hunt, 429 So.2d at 813; Bailey, 419 So.2d at 722; Van Zant, 372 So.2d at 504. Accordingly, we believe that the trial court erred in admitting the challenged testimony of these four witnesses.

We also believe that the trial court erred in excluding evidence proffered by appellant to impeach the credibility of George Benti, a state witness. Benti, a security guard at the apartment complex where appellant resided, testified on direct examination that he responded to appellant's emergency call, examined the crime scene, and questioned appellant concerning the incident. According to Benti's direct testimony, appellant provided two divergent responses to the guard's question concerning whether appellant had relocked the front door after Audra's entry. Fleming initially informed Benti, "Yes, I relocked the door." When the guard repeated his question after finding no sign of forced entry, Fleming purportedly responded, "I believe I locked the door. I usually lock the door."

On cross-examination, defense counsel established that Benti had given a sworn, tape recorded statement to Sheriff's Deputy Rodney Shoap on the night of the homicide. A written transcript of Benti's statement to Shoap reflected that Benti had advised the officer that Fleming provided only a...