GILBERT WILLIAM CORNWELL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a general motion for judgment of acquittal based on insufficient evidence is insufficient to preserve the issue for appeal if it does not specify the grounds for insufficiency.
Cornwell was convicted of sexual battery of his stepdaughter. He appealed, and his counsel filed an Anders brief. The court sought additional briefing…
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WIGGINTON, Judge.
Cornwell timely appeals his conviction and sentence, following a jury trial, on a charge of sexual battery of his eleven year old stepdaughter. Finding no reversible error, the public defender filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and Corn-well was permitted thirty days to file his own brief. Upon this Court’s initial review, additional briefing was sought and received on issues relevant to a thorough and proper disposition of the case.
Although several issues were presented by Cornwell and other issues were posed sua sponte by the court, we find none so meritorious to cause reversal and accordingly affirm the trial court’s judgment and sentence. However, disposition of Corn-well’s motion for judgment of acquittal warrants explanation.
Appellant’s motion was made at the close of the State’s case and renewed following presentation of the defense case on the ground that the State had failed to prove a prima facie case, in that the testimony was “rather ambiguous, vague” and indefinite and that the evidence was simply insufficient. We find this motion to be deficient to preserve the point on appeal as it does not fully set forth the ground on which it is based. Rule 3.380(b), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure; Sanderson v. State, 390 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980); Patterson v. State, 391 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).
Cornwell’s shotgun motion failed to specify for the trial judge to what extent the evidence was insufficient. And, unless the error complained of is adequately brought to the attention of the trial judge, it is not preserved and cannot be considered by this Court. G.W.B. v. State, 340 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977).
The judgment and sentence is therefore AFFIRMED.
JOANOS, J., and SHAW, LEANDER, Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Jaggers v. State, 536 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)…e denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal, the specific ground relied upon in assigning error must be advanced in the trial court to preserve the point for appellate review. Johnson v. State, 478 So. 2d 885 (Fla.3d DCA 1985); Cornwell v. State, 425 So. 2d 1189 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). In Johnson, the district court rejected the defendant’s argument in that case that the trial court erred in denying a defense motion for judgment of acquittal as to the count alleging sexual battery of a child eleven years of ag…
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Liborio Romero v. State, 901 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…ion which asserts that the state failed to present a prima facie case, without more, is insufficient. See Miller v. State, 712 So. 2d 451, 452 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); Griffin v. State, 705 So. 2d 572, 573 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); see also Cornwell v. State, 425 So. 2d 1189, 1190 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) (stating that a motion which merely alleged that the testimony was “rather ambiguous, vague” was insufficient). In this case, the state contends that the motion for judgment of acquittal was insufficient as to the count re…
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Costa T. Vathis v. State, 729 So. 2d 453 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)…2d 725, 726 (Fla.1998). But that motion did not preserve the sufficiency points now argued on appeal. See, e.g., Clark v. State, 635 So. 2d 68, 68-69 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Showers v. State, 570 So. 2d 377, 378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Cornwell v. State, 425 So. 2d 1189, 1190 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). The motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the state’s case raised only the issue of the perpetrator’s identity. See G.W.B. v. State, 340 So. 2d 969, 970 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 948 (Fl…
Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- G. W. B. v. State, 340 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976)
- Sanderson v. State, 390 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)
- Patterson v. State, 391 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)