State v. Law

Decision Date27 July 1989
Docket NumberNo. 69976,69976
Parties14 Fla. L. Weekly 387, 15 Fla. L. Weekly S241 STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Ronnie S. LAW, Respondent.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Maria Ines Suber, Gregory G. Costas, Bradford L. Thomas, Asst. Attys. Gen., and Richard E. Doran, Asst. Atty. Gen., Acting Director, Crim. Div., Tallahassee, for petitioner.

Arthur A. Shimek of Shimek and Associates, P.A., Pensacola, for respondent.

EHRLICH, Chief Justice.

We have for review a decision of the First District Court of Appeal, Law v. State, 502 So.2d 471 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), because of apparent conflict with Lynch v State, 293 So.2d 44 (Fla.1974). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

The question presented is whether a trial judge may send a criminal case to the jury if all of the state's evidence is circumstantial in nature and the state has failed to present competent evidence sufficient to enable the jury to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Stated another way, does the common law circumstantial evidence rule apply when a trial judge rules on a motion for judgment of acquittal? We agree with the district court that the rule applies, but disagree that applying the rule to the facts of the instant case required the trial judge to grant Law's motion for judgment of acquittal.

The law as it has been applied by this Court in reviewing circumstantial evidence cases is clear. 1 A special standard of review of the sufficiency of the evidence applies where a conviction is wholly based on circumstantial evidence. Jaramillo v. State, 417 So.2d 257 (Fla.1982). Where 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. McArthur v. State, 351 So.2d 972 (Fla.1977); Mayo v. State, 71 So.2d 899 (Fla.1954). The question of whether the evidence fails to exclude all reasonable hypotheses of innocence is for the jury to determine, and where there is substantial, competent evidence to support the jury verdict, we will not reverse. Heiney v. State, 447 So.2d 210 (Fla.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 920, 105 S.Ct. 303, 83 L.Ed.2d 237 (1984); Rose v. State, 425 So.2d 521 (Fla.1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 909, 103 S.Ct. 1883, 76 L.Ed.2d 812 (1983), disapproved on other grounds, Williams v. State, 488 So.2d 62 (Fla.1986).

The state contends that applying this rule when considering a defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal would run afoul of previous statements from this Court regarding the standard of review applicable to such motions. The state argues that the standard applied by the district court in Fowler v. State, 492 So.2d 1344 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), review denied, 503 So.2d 328 (Fla.1987), upon which its Law opinion is founded, conflicts with this Court's holding in Lynch. 2 The state contends that because a defendant, in moving for a judgment of acquittal, admits not only the facts as adduced at trial, but also every conclusion which is favorable to the state which may be reasonably inferred from the evidence, the trial court should not be required to grant a judgment of acquittal simply because the state has failed to present evidence which is inconsistent with the defendant's reasonable hypotheses of innocence.

Upon careful consideration, we find that the view expressed in Lynch and that expressed by the district court below in the instant case and in Fowler are harmonious. A motion for judgment of acquittal should be granted in a circumstantial evidence case if the state fails to present evidence from which the jury can exclude every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt. See Wilson v. State, 493 So.2d 1019, 1022 (Fla.1986). Consistent with the standard set forth in Lynch, if the state does not offer evidence which is inconsistent with the defendant's hypothesis, "the evidence [would be] such that no view which the jury may lawfully take of it favorable to the [state] can be sustained under the law." 293 So.2d at 45. The state's evidence would be as a matter of law "insufficient to warrant a conviction." Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.380.

It is the trial judge's proper task to review the evidence to determine the presence or absence of competent evidence from which the jury could infer guilt to the exclusion of all other inferences. That view of the evidence must be taken in the light most favorable to the state. Spinkellink v. State, 313 So.2d 666, 670 (Fla.1975), cert. denied, 428 U.S. 911, 96 S.Ct. 3227, 49 L.Ed.2d 1221 (1976). The state is not required to "rebut conclusively every possible variation" 3 of events which could be inferred from the evidence, but only to introduce competent evidence which is inconsistent with the defendant's theory of events. See Toole v. State, 472 So.2d 1174, 1176 (Fla.1985). Once that threshold burden is met, it becomes the jury's duty to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the rule were not applied in this manner, a trial judge would be required to send a case to the jury even where no evidence contradicting the defendant's theory of innocence was present, only for a verdict of guilty to be reversed on direct appeal. We agree with the Fowler court that

it is for the court to determine, as a threshold matter, whether the state has been able to produce competent, substantial evidence to contradict the defendant's story. If the state fails in this initial burden, then it is the court's duty to grant a judgment of acquittal to the defendant as to the charged offense, as well as any lesser-included offenses not supported by the evidence.... Otherwise, there would be no function or role for the courts in reviewing circumstantial evidence, as was stated so well in Davis v. State, 436 So.2d [196 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) ], 200: "If we were to follow the state's logic, a trial judge could never ... grant a motion for judgment of acquittal pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.380 when the evidence [is] circumstantial. Instead, every case would have to go to the jury."

Fowler, 492 So.2d at 1347.

We now turn to the case at bar. This is a tragic case, which deserved, and has received, many hours of careful judicial consideration. The relevant facts are that respondent Ronnie S. Law was charged by indictment with first-degree murder caused during aggravated child abuse in the death of his girlfriend's three-year-old son, Louis James Dees IV, known as "Little Jim." Little Jim was found dead in his bed on the morning of February 10, 1985. The cause of death was established to be a subdural hematoma caused by blunt trauma to the head.

At trial, Law raised several hypotheses of innocence, including that Little Jim's mother, Carol Free, may have inflicted the fatal blow; that Little Jim's, then eight-year-old, brother, Robert, may have caused the fatal injury while "roughhousing" with his brother; that the fatal injury, along with other injuries to the child's body, were caused by a series of accidental falls during the forty-eight-hour period prior to the boy's death; and that Law may have accidentally inflicted the fatal injury while playing with Little Jim. At the close of the state's case, and again at the close of all the evidence, the defense sought a judgment of acquittal, arguing the state had failed to contradict Law's hypotheses of innocence. Those motions were denied, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on the lesser included offense of second-degree murder. Law was sentenced within the guidelines range to seventeen years in state prison.

On appeal, the district court found the state had failed to meet its burden of contradicting each of Law's hypotheses of innocence, and held as a matter of law the trial judge erred in sending the case to the jury. The state sought review by this Court.

In reversing the conviction, the district court failed to delineate which of Law's theories of innocence remained in its view viable, stating: "Without detailing the lengthy evidence presented at trial, we find that the evidence left room for several inferences of fact, at least one of which was consistent with appellant's hypotheses of innocence." 502 So.2d at 473. In the absence of such direction from the district court, we are required to consider each of Law's hypotheses.

1. The victim's mother may have delivered the fatal blow.

This theory which rests on Law's assertion that Carol Free was the last one to check on Little Jim, who was suffering from sinus congestion, the night he died was refuted by evidence that the fatal blow likely had been delivered well before Free entered the room to check on the child's breathing. Little Jim's brother Robert testified he was in the bedroom when his mother checked on Little Jim, but did not report a spanking or beating. Law also did not report hearing Little Jim cry out in an unusual manner. Moreover, Robert's testimony supported the inference that Law had delivered the fatal blow before the children went to bed. Robert testified that he saw Law hitting Little Jim through an open bedroom door, and that upon noticing he was being observed by Robert, Law closed the door to complete the physical reprimand without being seen. Free was asleep in another room at that time. When Robert went to bed a short time later, he testified, Little Jim was lying not on his side, as was his custom, but on his back--the position in which his body was discovered the next morning--and his lips were discolored. This evidence was sufficiently contrary to Law's theory that Free delivered the fatal blow to allow the jury to consider this contention.

2. The older brother may have caused the fatal injury while "roughhousing" with Little Jim.

Dr. Ronald L. Reeves, an eminently qualified pathologist with substantial experience...

To continue reading

Request your trial
552 cases
  • Holland v. Tucker
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida
    • April 3, 2012
    ...with the defendant's theory of defense.’ ” Washington v. State, 737 So.2d 1208, 1215 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) ( quoting State v. Law, 559 So.2d 187, 189 (Fla.1989)). The Court accords great deference to a state court's interpretation of State law. Hunt v. Tucker, 93 F.3d 735, 737 (11th Cir.1996)......
  • Looney v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • November 1, 2001
    ...evidence is inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence. See, e.g., Thorp v. State, 777 So.2d 385 (Fla.2000); State v. Law, 559 So.2d 187 (Fla.1989). 19. "Premeditation is defined as more than a mere intent to kill; it is a fully formed conscious purpose to kill." Green v. Stat......
  • Reynolds v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • May 18, 2006
    ...and where there is substantial, competent evidence to support the jury verdict, we will not reverse. Id. (quoting State v. Law, 559 So.2d 187, 188 (Fla.1989)). Therefore, a motion for judgment of acquittal should be granted in a case based wholly upon circumstantial evidence if the state fa......
  • Boyd v. State, No. SC02-1590 (FL 2/10/2005)
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • February 10, 2005
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Appellate standards of review.
    • United States
    • Florida Bar Journal Vol. 73 No. 11, December - December 1999
    • December 1, 1999
    ...DCA 1994); Bradford v. State, 460 So. 2d 926 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). Moreover, where the evidence is wholly circumstantial, see State v. Law, 559 So. 2d 187, 188 (Fla. 1989), factual sufficiency is determined by whether the evidence is inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence (j......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT