JESUS RODRIGUEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1990-04-10
No. 87-831
Before HUBBART, COPE and LEVY, JJ.
559 So. 2d 392 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1990)

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Synopsis

Jesus Rodriguez appealed his second-degree murder conviction based on a jury verdict, challenging the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress statements to police and denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed, finding no reversible error.


Holding

The trial court did not commit reversible error in denying either motion. Rodriguez voluntarily waived his Miranda rights without refusing to answer questions or asserting his right to remain silent, and his subsequent statements were properly admitted. The circumstantial evidence sufficiently supported the jury's finding that Rodriguez shot the victim with a depraved mind rather than in lawful self-defense.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant's voluntary waiver of Miranda rights is valid when the defendant indicates a willingness to answer questions, even if they state they have nothing to say, as…

[2] A statement made by a defendant after initially stating they have nothing to say, but after being willing to answer questions, is admissible if the defendant later divulg…

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Key Quotes

“the defendant voluntarily waived his rights and at no time either (a) refused to answer any police questions concerning the criminal homicide then under investigation or (b) otherwise asserted his right to remain silent”

Establishes the court's finding that Rodriguez did not invoke his Miranda rights and thus his statements were admissible despite his initial equivocal response.

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Facts & Procedural History

Rodriguez was convicted of second-degree murder. He claimed self-defense, stating the victim attacked him with a pool stick during a shooting incident…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by the defendant Jesus Rodriguez from a final judgment of conviction and sentence for second-degree murder based on an adverse jury verdict. The defendant raises two points on appeal which, we conclude, do not present reversible error.

First, the trial court did not, as urged, commit reversible error in denying the defendant’s motion to suppress his statements to the police as having been obtained in violation of his rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution as interpreted by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 96 S.Ct. 321, 46 L.Ed.2d 313 (1975); and State v. Belcher, 520 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 529 So. 2d 695 (Fla.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 270, 102 L.Ed.2d 258 (1988).

We reach this result because, contrary to the defendant’s argument, the defendant voluntarily waived his rights and at no time either (a) refused to answer any police questions concerning the criminal homicide then under investigation or (b) otherwise asserted his right to remain silent. Detective Alvarez asked the defendant, “Are you willing to answer my questions?” after properly advising the defendant of his Miranda rights — to which the defendant replied: “Yes, but I really don’t have anything to say”; at no time, according to police testimony, did the defendant state that he did not wish to speak to the police. In context, the defendant’s above-stated response meant nothing more than that the defendant was willing to answer police questions, but had no real knowledge about the case. This being so, the statement subsequently obtained from the defendant, after he changed his mind concerning his lack of knowledge and divulged his version of the shooting incident under investigation, was properly admitted in evidence. Walton v. State, 481 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1985), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 759, 107 L.Ed.2d 775 (1990).

Second, the trial court did not, as urged, commit reversible error in denying the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal. The defendant’s version of the shooting incident was soundly refuted by the circumstantial evidence adduced by the state, as well as by various other statements made by the defendant to the police. No pool stick was seen near the deceased, although the defendant claimed the deceased was in the process of attacking him with such a stick when the defendant shot the deceased; moreover, the defendant had no marks or bruises on his arm, forearm, or neck area, where he claimed to have been hit by the deceased during the alleged attack with a pool stick. When told that the deceased had died, the defendant stated to the police: “[G]ood, he deserved it[;] he was messing with me about this girl”; he also told the police he “didn’t know” why he had shot the deceased.

The jury was therefore privileged to find that the defendant shot the deceased with a depraved mind and not in self defense, and, accordingly, was guilty of second-degree murder. Cochran v. State, 547 So. 2d 928 (Fla.1989); Toole v. State, 472 So. 2d 1174 (Fla.1985).

For the above reasons, the final judgment of conviction and sentence under review is, in all respects,

Affirmed.


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