Wiley v. State
| Decision Date | 18 May 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 4D09–3272.,4D09–3272. |
| Citation | 60 So.3d 588 |
| Parties | Eric WILEY, Appellant,v.STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Anthony Calvello, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Laura Fisher, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.POLEN, J.
Appellant, Eric Wiley, appeals his judgment, convicting him of second-degree and third-degree murder, and sentencing him to life in prison. We vacate Wiley's conviction for second-degree murder and remand for resentencing on Wiley's conviction for third-degree murder.
Wiley was charged by information with: Count I (second-degree murder of Dwight Starks); Count II (third-degree murder of Dwight Starks); Count III (aggravated battery of Aaron Stoudemire with a firearm); Count IV (aggravated assault of Aaron Stoudemire with a firearm); and Count V (possession of a firearm by a convicted felon). On January 11, 2008, Wiley learned that his sister Rosica (“CC”) Mosely and Aaron Stoudemire were involved in a domestic dispute. Karen Darvelle, a member of Wiley's church, testified that on the day in question she was at church, and that Wiley was at the church with a man named Peter Clark. She was talking to Wiley when he received a phone call. She then heard Wiley say, he “don't like no trouble.” Wiley and Clark then left in Wiley's SUV. Upon arriving at CC's house, Wiley got out of the SUV and confronted Stoudemire with a gun in his hand. Subsequently, the gun discharged resulting in the death of Dwight Starks.1 Three eyewitnesses to the shooting testified: Wiley, Aaron Stoudemire (the first cousin of Starks), and Brandon Christie (Stoudemire's friend).
Stoudemire testified to the following. He and CC had an argument about a cell phone and it became physical. The argument then continued outside, and about five minutes later, he saw Wiley running at him with a gun in his right hand. Wiley told him, “lay down, I'm going to kill you.” Wiley then hit him in the head with the gun and the gun went off. Stoudemire testified that when Wiley struck him in the head with the gun, Wiley's finger was on the trigger. Christie testified that when he saw Wiley hit Stoudemire on the side of the head with the gun, the gun went off. Christie further testified that he did not see anyone struggle over the gun.
On the same day, Detective Gerwan spoke with Wiley in an interview room at the Stuart Police Department. At trial, the recording from the interview was admitted into evidence. During the interview, Wiley stated that Stoudemire was punching CC when he arrived, that he saw blood on CC's shirt, and that CC's mouth was bleeding. However, Wiley did state that CC was going inside when he pulled up to the house. Wiley also admitted that he didn't see a gun in Stoudemire's hand. Regarding the shooting, Wiley stated that while he and Stoudemire were fighting, the gun fell out, and when he retrieved the gun, it discharged while Stoudemire was trying to take the gun from him. When he heard Starks was dead, Wiley said he felt bad and turned himself in.
Other testimony was also presented at trial. CC testified that she was in the house watching TV for five to ten minutes when she heard about the shooting; she did not see what happened outside. She did testify, however, that Wiley and Stoudemire were friendly and never saw them argue. Michael James Duhart testified that he was doing lawn work on his mother's property with his son, when he noticed a man emerge from a tan SUV with a black semi-automatic in his hand and heard the man say: “What the F is the problem here?” As he saw the man raise the gun up, he made a rapid exit. He then heard three rapid gun shots. Duhart's son testified that he saw a man take a gun from behind his back and raise it up. A couple of minutes, after he lost sight of the man, he heard gun shots.
Mark Chapman, Firearm Examiner, Indian River Crime Laboratory, testified that the firearm 2 has three safeties, and in order for this weapon to accidently fire, all three would have to malfunction. Chapman further testified that assuming that all the safeties were working properly, one would have to pull the trigger for the firearm to discharge. Chapman found no reason to believe that the safeties were not working properly and testified that the gun would not discharge from being dropped or from blunt trauma.
Wiley moved for a judgment of acquittal as to Count I and Count II, arguing that the State failed to negate that the death of Starks was an accident. The trial court denied the motion. Wiley was then convicted on all five counts and sentenced to life in prison on Count I. No sentence was imposed for Count II.
On appeal, Wiley argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal because the State failed to establish that the killing was not accidental or that Wiley acted with a depraved mind. We agree with Wiley that his conviction for second-degree murder should be reversed. However, as we find no error in Wiley's conviction for third-degree murder, we remand for the trial court to resentence Wiley for third-degree murder.
The standard of review on a motion for judgment of acquittal is de novo. Johnston v. State, 863 So.2d 271, 283 (Fla.2003). Generally, an appellate court will not reverse a conviction that is supported by competent substantial evidence. Id. 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. Id. In meeting its burden, the State is not required to “rebut conclusively, every possible variation of events” which could be inferred from the evidence, but must introduce competent evidence which is inconsistent with the defendant's theory of events. Id. Once the State meets this threshold burden, 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. However, “[t]he United States Constitution requires that criminal convictions must rest upon a determination that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of every element of the crime with which he has been charged.” Michelson v. State, 805 So.2d 983, 985 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (citing State v. Harbaugh, 754 So.2d 691, 694 (Fla.2000)).
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