SAMMY RAY BEASLEY, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court upheld the admission of testimony from the victim's sister regarding similar sexual offenses in a child sexual abuse case, holding that such evidence is admissible to corroborate the victim's testimony in familial sexual battery cases where identity is not disputed and corroborative evidence is limited.
The court held that the sister's testimony was properly admitted. In familial sexual battery cases where identity is not an issue and corroborative evidence is scarce, similar fact evidence is admissible as relevant to corroborate the victim's testimony when the evidence's probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect.
[1] Similar fact evidence is admissible to corroborate a victim's testimony in cases of familial sexual battery, where the probative value outweighs the prejudicial effect.
[2] In cases of familial sexual battery, where identity is not an issue and corroborative evidence is scant, similar fact evidence may be admitted to show modus operandi, sch…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Cases involving sexual battery committed within the familial context present special problems. The victim knows the perpetrator, e.g., a parent, and identity is not an issue. The victim is typically the sole eye witness and corroborative evidence is scant.”
Establishes the unique challenges in familial sexual battery cases that justify a modified approach to similar fact evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSammy Ray Beasley was convicted of two counts of attempted sexual battery and one count of lewd and lascivious assault on his stepdaughter when she wa…
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EHRLICH, Justice.
We have for review Beasley v. State, 503 So. 2d 1347 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987), which directly and expressly conflicts with decisions of this Court and other district courts. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. The petitioner, Sammy Ray Beasley, was convicted and sentenced for two counts of attempted sexual battery and one count of lewd and lascivious assault upon his stepdaughter when she was between the ages of eleven and thirteen, in violation of sections 794.011(2), 777.04(1) and 800.04, Florida Statutes (1985). After the victim concluded her testimony at trial, the trial court granted the state’s motion to permit the victim’s sister to testify about similar offenses purportedly committed against her by the petitioner which began when she was approximately thirteen years of age. The trial court ruled that the sister’s testimony was relevant to establish that Beasley had the opportunity to perform the illegal acts.
Beasley appealed his convictions, arguing that the trial court erred by admitting the testimony of the victim’s sister. The district court affirmed his convictions, concluding “that the trial court properly allowed the victim’s sister to testify because the location, times, acts, and method employed on both girls were substantially the same. The similar fact evidence was relevant to show [petitioner] had the opportuni ty to commit the crimes.” Beasley, 503 So. 2d at 1349 (citations omitted).
Beasley now contends that the district court misapprehended the testimony at trial and that opportunity was clearly not a material fact at issue and the sister’s testimony was relevant only to prove propensity to commit the charged crime. He also contends that the acts described by the victim’s sister had neither a sufficient “level of uniqueness” nor sufficient “identifiable points of similarity” to qualify as similar fact evidence. He argues that the testimony of the victim’s sister was therefore inadmissible under section 90.404(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), and Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla.), cert. denied, 361 U.S. 847, 80 S.Ct. 102, 4 L.Ed.2d 86 (1959).
This Court recently, in Heuring v. State, 513 So. 2d 122 (Fla.1987), addressed the selfsame issues raised by petitioner and noted:
Cases involving sexual battery committed within the familial context present special problems. The victim knows the perpetrator, e.g., a parent, and identity is not an issue. The victim is typically the sole eye witness and corroborative evidence is scant. Credibility becomes the focal issue. In such cases, some courts have in effect relaxed the strict standard normally applicable to similar fact evidence. These courts have allowed evidence of a parent’s sexual battery on another family member as relevant to modus operandi, scheme, plan, or design, even though the distinction between sexual design and sexual disposition is often tenuous. We find that the better approach treats similar fact evidence as simply relevant to corroborate the victim’s testimony, and recognizes that in such cases the evidence’s probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect.
Id. at 124-25. The facts herein fall within the Court’s holding in Heuring.
We hold, therefore, that the testimony of the victim’s sister was properly admitted under the present circumstances. We approve the result of the district court decision below affirming Beasley’s convictions.
It is so ordered.
McDonald, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (12 total)
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Saffor v. State, 660 So. 2d 668 (Fla. 1995)…een the methods of attack outweighed any dissimilarities and affirmed the trial court’s decision to admit the niece’s collateral crime testimony. However, the district court certified the question set forth above, noting that while Beasley v. State, 518 So. 2d 917 (Fla.1988), and Heuring v. State, 513 So. 2d 122 (Fla.1987), indicate that a different standard for the admissibility of collateral crime evidence may be used in familial context cases, this standard has never been specifically addressed. We first…
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Calloway v. State, 520 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…ing the Admissibility of Evidence of Other Sex Offenses, 25 U.C.L.A. L.Rev. 261 (1977). The court did not err, in the instant case, in allowing evidence of Heuring’s sexual battery of his daughter, Anita. Id. at 125, 126. See also Beasley v. State, 518 So. 2d 917 (Fla.1988). In the instant case, the victim was the sole eye witness to the alleged ^offenses and corroborative evidence was scant. Credibility of the victim was the focal issue in the case, the defense being predicated upon the defendant’s claim th…
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Snowden v. State, 537 So. 2d 1383 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…approach treats similar, fact evidence as simply relevant to corroborate the victim’s testimony, and recognizes that in such cases the evidence’s probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect.” 513 So. 2d at 124-25. [*1390] See Beasley v. State, 518 So. 2d 917 (Fla.1988); Calloway v. State, 520 So. 2d 665, 667 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (testimony of two other girls that they too had been molested by victim’s stepfather properly bolstered credibility of victim, which was “the focal issue in the case”); Espey v.…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 1959)
- Williams v. Florida, 361 U.S. 847 (U.S. 1959)
- White v. Illinois, 361 U.S. 847 (U.S. 1959)
- State v. Fundora, 513 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 1987)
- Frederick A.R. Heuring v. State, 513 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 1987)
- Beasley v. State, 503 So. 2d 1347 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)