State v. Mosley, 5D00-947.
| Decision Date | 07 July 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D00-947.,5D00-947. |
| Citation | 760 So.2d 1129 |
| Parties | STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. James W. MOSLEY, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee and Belle B. Schumann, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Petitioner.
Louis Davila of Davila & Torres, P.A., Kissimmee, for Respondent.
The State of Florida seeks certiorari review of interlocutory orders entered in a criminal case which exclude evidence. James W. Mosley has been charged with first degree murder, and the case is pending in Osceola County on retrial. The state alleges that on August 29, 1993, Mosley murdered his roommate, Robert Chandler. At Mosley's first trial the state introduced evidence that Mosley took Chandler's truck after the homicide and drove to Wakulla County, where he battered and kidnapped his ex-wife. Mosley took the stand in his own defense. Although Mosley was found guilty of first degree murder, this court reversed the judgment on appeal and remanded for a new trial because the trial court failed to conduct an adequate inquiry into Mosley's complaints about his attorney. See Mosley v. State, 720 So.2d 606 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). Mosley obtained new counsel who filed a motion in limine to exclude at retrial any reference to the collateral crimes which occurred in Wakulla County, and a motion to suppress Mosley's former testimony. The trial court granted the pre-trial motions, finding that the probative value of such evidence would be outweighed by prejudice.
The state is attempting to prove that Mosley committed the murder so that he could take his roommate's truck to travel to Wakulla County. According to the state's theory, Mosley was desperate to see his ex-wife and family and had no other way to get there. Chandler would not loan him his truck, so Mosley murdered him. After the murder, Mosley drove directly to Wakulla County in Chandler's truck and committed the crimes against his ex-wife. The state argues that the evidence of the offenses committed in Wakulla County is directly relevant to the motive for the murder of the victim in Osceola County.
At the first trial, the state presented evidence that Mosley at the time of the homicide was depressed about his divorce. As his wedding anniversary approached he was contemplating suicide. Mosley told his brother a day before the homicide that he was going to Wakulla County to visit his ex-wife and their three children. Witnesses testified that Chandler would not let anyone borrow his new truck, and refused to let Mosley have it when he asked to take it to visit his family. Mosley was in the apartment he shared with Chandler on August 29, 1993 between 3:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon, but by 9:30 or 10:00 that evening, he was in Wakulla County, a five hour trip away.
Mosley at the first trial testified that he and Chandler were arguing, and Chandler slapped him on the side of his head with his open hand. Mosley further testified that Chandler came at him with a knife, so he grabbed a baseball bat and hit Chandler in the head. According to Mosley, although Chandler was dazed, Chandler grabbed him, so he stabbed Chandler in the chest. Mosley thereafter placed the body in the bathroom. He then drove directly to Wakulla County in the victim's truck.
Upon arrival in Wakulla County, Mosley kidnapped his ex-wife. Armed with a sawed-off shotgun, Mosley entered his ex-wife's bedroom and ordered her to leave with him. After struggling with him for the gun, Mosley beat her on the head in front of her children. Mosley threatened to kill her, and ordered her into her car.
Mosley retrieved several items from the truck, and drove to a secluded area and parked. After his ex-wife washed off some of the blood, he drove to another location where they stayed most of the night. Mosley revealed that he thought he had just killed Chandler.
Finally, Mosley drove back to his ex-wife's house, and surrendered to law enforcement officers there. While incarcerated in Wakulla County, he told his brother and a deputy sheriff that he had "hurt" or killed his friend.
Section 90.404(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1999) reads as follows:
Similar fact evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is admissible when relevant to prove a material fact in issue, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident, but it is inadmissible when the evidence is relevant solely to prove bad character or propensity.
While evidence of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Cardona v. State, 5D01-3438.
...186 (Fla.1997); State v. Savino, 567 So.2d 892 (Fla.1990); Drake v. State, 400 So.2d 1217, 1218 (Fla.1981); Williams; State v. Mosley, 760 So.2d 1129 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). The evidence does not have to be necessary to the state's case; merely relevant. Ruffin v. State, 397 So.2d 277, 279 (Fl......
-
Rolon v. State
...trial was voluntary and whether its introduction at the second trial would mislead the jury or confuse issues. See State v. Mosley, 760 So.2d 1129, 1131 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). Unless the defendant's prior testimony was involuntary or compelled in a constitutional sense, the use of that testim......