Williams v. State, 90-1393

Decision Date14 January 1992
Docket NumberNo. 90-1393,90-1393
Citation592 So.2d 350
PartiesCharles Henry WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. 592 So.2d 350, 17 Fla. L. Week. D246
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and May L. Cain, Special Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Paul Mendelson, Special Appointed Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before BARKDULL, LEVY and GERSTEN, JJ.

GERSTEN, Judge.

Appellant, Charles Henry Williams, appeals his convictions for sexual battery, kidnapping, robbery and possession of cocaine. We affirm.

After engaging the victim in conversation about where to purchase cocaine, appellant struck the victim in the head, choked her from behind, and put a sharp object to her neck. Appellant then dragged the victim to a secluded area where he threw her to the ground, took the victim's cocaine, and then raped her.

After his arrest, appellant admitted having sex with the victim, but claimed that it had been consensual. At trial, appellee, the State, introduced testimony of two other women who testified that they had also been raped by appellant in the same manner as the victim: engaging them in conversation about cocaine, grabbing them in a tight chokehold from behind, removing them to a secluded spot, taking their cocaine, and then raping them.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce collateral crimes evidence regarding the other rapes. The State asserts that admission of collateral crimes evidence was proper because the evidence established a common scheme or plan. The State also asserts that admission of the collateral crime evidence was necessary to rebut the defense of consent.

The landmark case of Williams v. State, 110 So.2d 654 (Fla.), cert. denied, 361 U.S. 847, 80 S.Ct. 102, 4 L.Ed.2d 86 (1959), established the rule regarding admissibility of collateral crime evidence:

[T]he rule which we have applied in affirming this conviction simply is that evidence of any facts relevant to a material fact in issue except where the sole relevancy is character or propensity of the accused is admissible ... This rule we hold applies to relevant similar fact evidence ... even though it points to the commission of another crime.

In Williams, as here, the defendant claimed that sex with the victim had been consensual. A second victim's testimony was admitted to show plan, course of...

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4 cases
  • Williams v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • July 1, 1993
    ...Rundle, State Atty., and Paul Mendelson, Asst. State Atty., Miami, for respondent. KOGAN, Justice. We have for review Williams v. State, 592 So.2d 350 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992), because of apparent conflict with Hodges v. State, 403 So.2d 1375 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), review denied, 413 So.2d 877 (Fla......
  • State v. Zenobia, 93-0053
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • February 11, 1993
    ...conduct or common scheme. The probative value of the evidence outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice to respondent. See Williams v. State, 592 So.2d 350 (Fla. 3d DCA), juris. accepted, 606 So.2d 1167 (Fla.1992); Jackson v. State, 538 So.2d 533 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). The record also shows th......
  • Jacobs v. State, 3D02-792.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • December 24, 2003
    ...SCHWARTZ, C.J., and COPE and SHEPHERD, JJ. PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Williams v. State, 621 So.2d 413 (Fla.1993), affirming, 592 So.2d 350 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Houston v. State, 852 So.2d 425 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003); cf. State v. Richman, 861 So.2d 1195, 2003 WL 22899976 (Fla. 2d DCA Case no. 2D......
  • Williams v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • October 14, 1992

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