Quintana v. State

• Decision Date: 31 May 1984
• Docket Number: No. AU-157,AU-157
• Citation: 452 So.2d 98
• Parties: Fernando QUINTANA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 98

452 So.2d 98

Fernando QUINTANA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. AU-157.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

First District.

May 31, 1984.

Michael E. Allen, Public Defender and Carl L. McGinnes, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Lawrence A. Kaden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

ERVIN, Chief Judge.

In this appeal from a conviction for first degree murder, appellant, Fernando Quintana, contends the trial court erred in excluding proffered evidence pertaining to the reputation of and specific instances of prior violence by the victim when such evidence was offered in support of Quintana's theory of self-defense. We agree and reverse.

Quintana, a slightly built inmate in the custody of the Florida prison system, who speaks only Spanish, stabbed and killed a fellow inmate, Jerome Harold, on July 14, 1982. The state's evidence discloses that on that morning Harold, while on his way to breakfast, went to Quintana's cell and there slapped him. Harold then left, proceeded on to breakfast, and returned to the cell block some thirty minutes later accompanied by two of his friends. As he passed Quintana's cell, Quintana ran out, shouted something in Spanish, and fatally stabbed Harold.

Quintana, relying on a theory of self-defense, proffered testimony outside the jury's presence to the effect that Harold had a reputation within the prison population for sexually assaulting inmates. Quintana had personally witnessed such assaults by Harold, aided by two of his friends, on two prior occasions. In addition, Quintana had himself been subjected to Harold's sexual advances, which occurred in the communal showers, the gymnasium and the prison classrooms. On one particular evening approximately fifteen days before the homicide, Harold had attempted such an assault on Quintana in the prison television room. Quintana, testifying through a court-appointed interpreter, ¹ as to the events immediately preceding the fatal encounter, related that on the morning of July 14, Harold came to his cell, grabbed his neck, and then left. Harold returned from breakfast a short time later joined by two of his friends, one of whom, according to Quintana, was armed. Seeing the three men signaling to each other, Quintana believed they were coming to his cell to assault him sexually. He therefore armed himself with a knife and when Harold walked by his cell, Quintana stabbed him, saying in Spanish that he would show Harold how he could fight. His intentions, however, were only to "pinch" or hurt him, but not to kill him.

The defense also proffered the testimony of one of the prison guards who heard one of the inmates say that Harold "deserved what he got," as well as testimony from two inmates who knew of Harold's reputation for sexual assaults and violent behavior, in that they had witnessed such sexual assaults on prior occasions, and, more specifically, had seen Harold's sexual overtures to Quintana in the showers and television room, as well as the slapping incident on the morning of July 14. At the conclusion of the defense proffer, the trial court ruled that evidence of Harold's reputation for violence and his prior acts of sexual assault would be inadmissible, and that Quintana would be limited to testifying only as to his version of the events of July 14. Given that ruling, the defense rested without presenting any evidence, and Quintana was convicted of first degree murder.

It has been recognized that when the defense of self-defense is raised, evidence of the victim's reputation may be admissible to show his "propensity for violence and the likelihood that the victim was the aggressor", while evidence of prior specific acts of violence may be admissible to show "the reasonableness of the defendant's apprehension at the time of the slaying." Smith v. State, 410 So.2d 579, 580-581 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). See also Section 90.404, Florida Statutes (1979). But, a prerequisite to the introduction of such evidence is the laying of a "proper predicate ... by the showing of some overt act by the deceased at or about the time of the slaying that reasonably indicated a need for action by the defendant in self-defense." Williams v. State, 252 So.2d 243, 247 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). Accord Smith v. State; Williams v. State, 238 So.2d 137 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970); Garner v. State, 28 Fla. 113, 9 So. 835 (1891).

Whether the evidence presented by the defense will be sufficient to satisfy this prerequisite will of course depend on the factual circumstances of each case. Two recent cases, however, persuade us that the predicate laid by Quintana was...