Toler v. State, AW-469
| Decision Date | 12 October 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. AW-469,AW-469 |
| Citation | 457 So.2d 1115 |
| Parties | Joe TOLER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Michael Allen, Public Defender, and Ann Terry Carley, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Henri C. Cawthon, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Toler appeals from a conviction and sentence for burglary of a dwelling. He contends the trial court erred in allowing certain testimony and in denying motions for judgment of acquittal. We affirm.
On 23 August 1983, someone broke into Robert Morris' trailer near Keystone Heights. Toler was arrested for the crime, charged with burglary of a dwelling, tried and convicted by a jury. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Morris' trailer was located in a rural area. On the evening of 23 August 1983, Mrs. Prill who lived in a nearby trailer, saw a truck driving slowly down the road between her residence and Morris' trailer. She saw the truck turn down a road near Morris' trailer and shortly thereafter heard a sound "like wood breaking." She saw a flashlight shining inside the trailer. She also heard conversation but could not distinguish the words. Mrs. Prill called the police who arrived soon thereafter.
Investigator Taylor of the Clay County Sheriff's Department arrived at the scene and discovered footprints on the side of the road near Morris' trailer and near the tongue of the trailer. He also discovered tire tracks near the trailer. Taylor testified that the tire tracks indicated at least three different kinds of tires on one vehicle. He testified the footprints showed a unique grid-like design.
Deputy Jones of the Clay County Sheriff's Department also saw the footprints near the trailer and the nearby tire tracks. Both Jones and Taylor testified that Toler's truck had at least three different kinds of tires which could have made the tire tracks they found. They also testified that the boots Toler was wearing when he was arrested had the same grid-like pattern on the soles as that shown by the footprints found near Morris' trailer.
Deputy Jones saw a light shining in the woods below the trailer soon after he arrived on the scene. He then heard a vehicle start and radioed another officer who stopped Toler's truck as Toler drove up in it from the woods near a pond below Morris' trailer.
Toler told the officer he had been bathing in the pond and had not been near the trailer, but Deputy Jones testified Toler appeared dry and dirty. There was a flashlight in Toler's truck but no property from the trailer was found in Toler's possession. Toler's fingerprint was lifted from a piece of broken windown on Morris' trailer.
Some personal property from the trailer was found in a nearby ditch. No identifiable fingerprints belonging to Toler were found on the property.
A tracking dog from the Clay County Sheriff's Department named Bloodhound Andy traced a scent from the point where the stolen property was found in the ditch to the point near the trailer where the footprints and tire tracks were found. There was no testimony that the dog was a purebred bloodhound. There was, however, testimony that the dog had a 100% success rate in seven human trackings, and that Lieutenant Miller, who testified concerning the tracking evidence, had worked with the dog on 17 different occasions. Despite defense counsel's objection, Lieutenant Miller was allowed to testify.
Defense counsel's motions for judgment of acquittal based on the insufficiency of the evidence were denied by the trial court.
We first reject Toler's contention that the testimony concerning the fingerprint, footprints, and tire tracks was irrelevant and...
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McCray v. State, 3D04-2854.
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