Straway v. State
Decision Date | 15 July 2009 |
Docket Number | No. 4D07-4710.,4D07-4710. |
Citation | 13 So.3d 1100 |
Parties | Christopher STRAWAY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
The Appellant, Christopher Straway, appeals his conviction for first degree felony murder. In this appeal, Straway argues that the trial court should have granted a judgment of acquittal on the grounds that the evidence against him was purely circumstantial and the State had failed to disprove all reasonable hypotheses of innocence. See Orme v. State, 677 So.2d 258, 262 (Fla.1996). The standard for reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion for judgment of acquittal is de novo. Burkell v. State, 992 So.2d 848, 851 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). We affirm the conviction.
The relevant facts are that the victim, J.A., was a two-year-old child. J.A.'s mother, Cheryl Alexander, was good friends with Straway and his wife, Heather Straway, and often sent J.A. to the Straways' home when she needed a babysitter. At about 8:30 p.m. on the night before his death, J.A. was dropped off at the Straways' home by his mother's friend, Alex Guzman. J.A. stayed at the Straways' home until he was taken to the hospital the following day. Straway was home with J.A. for the entire time. Heather Straway was at the home during some parts of that night and the following day.
At 3:50 p.m. on the day of his death, Straway discovered that J.A. was not breathing. He called to Heather Straway, who ran to J.A. and shook him, trying to get his attention. The police were called and, along with emergency medical personnel, arrived at the Straways' home to render assistance. J.A. was taken to the hospital where he passed away. An autopsy revealed severe external bruising on J.A.'s head, severe internal bleeding in his head, and non-fatal bruises on the rest of his body. The State's expert, Dr. Bell, concluded that J.A. died from blunt force trauma to the head as a result of being beaten and that the injuries were recent. Dr. Bell also concluded that it was unlikely, considering the severity and number of injuries, that J.A. would have appeared normal days before he lost consciousness.
In a recorded statement to the police, Straway stated that Alex Guzman dropped J.A. off at his house the night before J.A.'s death. Shortly thereafter, J.A. threw up on him. Straway cleaned J.A. in the shower, re-dressed him, and gave him Children's Tylenol. He put J.A. in the room with his children to watch television. Straway stated that J.A. appeared not to be in pain, although earlier J.A. had fallen off the bed and hit his abdomen on a small table, resulting in a red mark about five inches long on his abdomen. The child showed no signs of distress. Both Straway and his wife checked on J.A. several times throughout the night. The next afternoon, J.A. went down for a nap. During his nap, Straway heard him coughing, checked on him, and discovered that he was not breathing.
A motion for judgment of acquittal challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Remor v. State, 991 So.2d 957, 959 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). For purposes of the motion, the defendant admits not only the facts adduced from the evidence, but also every conclusion favorable to the adverse party that a jury might fairly and reasonably infer from the evidence. Lynch v. State, 293 So.2d 44, 45 (Fla.1974). However, "[a] special standard of review of the sufficiency of the evidence applies where a conviction is wholly based on circumstantial evidence." State v. Law, 559 So.2d 187, 188 (Fla.1989). The Florida Supreme Court has provided the following explanation of this standard:
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. The state is not required to rebut conclusively every possible variation 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. 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.
Id. at 189 (citations omitted).
When faced with a motion for judgment of acquittal in a case where the evidence is circumstantial, the trial court must Orme, 677 So.2d at 262; see also Law, 559 So.2d at 188.
As his hypothesis of innocence, Straway contends that J.A.'s fatal injuries could have occurred while he was in the custody of other individuals. Straway argues that his hypothesis of innocence is entirely consistent with the evidence establishing that, during the two to three days preceding J.A.'s death, there were a number of people who had been alone with J.A., including J.A.'s mother, Alex Guzman, and the Straways' young children. Straway contends that any one of these individuals could have inflicted the fatal wounds. He further argues that his hypothesis is supported by the testimony of Dr. Bell, who provided evidence that J.A.'s fatal injuries could have been inflicted during those time periods when the victim was with someone other than Straway.
The State counters that all of the witnesses who had contact with J.A. during the relevant time frame testified that he did not have anything more than a bump on the head, a bump on the knee, and a mosquito bite before he went to the Straways' house the night before his death. The bump on J.A.'s head appeared as early as four days before his death, which makes it unlikely to have caused his death according to Dr. Bell's testimony. Dr. Bell also testified that it was unlikely, with the severity and number of injuries that J.A. suffered, that he would appear normal during the one to two day period before he lost consciousness. Moreover, Heather Straway testified that J.A. was running around with the other children and did not appear injured on the morning of his death. From this testimony, the jury could have reasonably inferred that J.A. was not suffering from any head injuries prior to the time Heather left him alone with...
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