Jaramillo v. State
| Decision Date | 08 July 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 60570,60570 |
| Citation | 417 So.2d 257 |
| Parties | Anibal JARAMILLO, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Louis Casuso and Edward McHale of the Law Offices of Casuso & McHale, Coral Gables, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Anthony C. Musto, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for appellee.
Anibal Jaramillo appeals his two convictions for murder in the first degree and his sentences of death. Finding that the State's evidence is legally insufficient to support the guilty verdicts, we reverse the convictions and remand to the trial court with directions to discharge Jaramillo.
The State's case against Jaramillo was based on circumstantial evidence. A special standard of review of the sufficiency of the evidence applies where a conviction is wholly based on circumstantial evidence. In McArthur v. State, 351 So.2d 972, 976 n. 12 (Fla.1977), we reiterated this standard to be that "[w]here the only proof of guilt is circumstantial, no matter how strongly the evidence may suggest guilt a conviction cannot be sustained unless the evidence is inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence." See also McArthur v. Nourse, 369 So.2d 578 (Fla.1979). Proof that Jaramillo's fingerprints were found on certain items in the murder victims' home was the only evidence offered by the State to show that Jaramillo was involved in these murders. This proof is not inconsistent with Jaramillo's reasonable explanation as to how his fingerprints came to be on these items in the victims' home. The State failed to establish that Jaramillo's fingerprints could only have been placed on the items at the time the murder was committed. Cf. Tirko v. State, 138 So.2d 388 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962).
The evidence the State introduced at trial showed that on December 2, 1980, police were called to a residence in Dade County where they discovered the bodies of the two victims. Each victim had been shot in the head three times. The associate medical examiner for Dade County stated that the deaths had occurred between 2 a. m., November 30, 1980, and 2 a. m., December 1, 1980. The bodies were lying in the dining-living room area where there were money and projectiles and shell casings scattered about on the floor. The male victim's hands had been tied behind his back with cord, and the female victim's hands had been handcuffed. On the handcuffs were identifiable latent fingerprints which did not belong to Jaramillo. A coil of cord similar to the cord used to tie the male victim's hands was found near his body. Near the coil was the packaging for a knife. Jaramillo's latent fingerprint was found on this item. A knife, also possessing Jaramillo's latent fingerprint, was found on the dining room table. A grocery bag was located next to a chair on the east side of the table in the dining room. Jaramillo's fingerprint was found on this bag. Two bedrooms and two closets had been ransacked, and numerous latent fingerprints were obtained from this area, none of which belonged to Jaramillo. Another fingerprint which did not belong to Jaramillo was also found on the knife wrapper. The print technician stated that he had no way of determining when the fingerprints were placed on these items. After introducing this evidence, the State rested, and Jaramillo moved for judgment of acquittal on the basis that since the State's entire case was based on the fingerprints, it failed to carry its burden of proving that the prints were left at the murder scene at the time of the crimes and at no other time. The trial court denied this motion.
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