MICHAEL MORRIS, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Michael Morris appealed his conviction for first-degree murder, armed robbery, and armed burglary, raising six issues including jury selection, juror excusal, hearsay evidence, expert testimony on blood spatter, expert opinion on the murder weapon, and sufficiency of evidence. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction, finding no reversible error despite identifying two instances of trial court error that were deemed harmless.
The trial court did not commit reversible error. While two instances of error were identified—allowing the detective's blood spatter opinion and the criminalist's opinion about the machete as the murder weapon—both errors were harmless because the testimony was cumulative to other expert evidence or undisputed in the record. The evidence was sufficient to support the convictions.
[1] Jury selection procedures must conform to the requirements established in State v. …
[2] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by excusing prospective jurors for cause when proper grounds exist.
Previewing 2 of 6 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“the homicide detective should not have been allowed to offer an opinion regarding blood spatter. However, the testimony was cumulative to that of the forensic serologist and medical examiner and therefore the error was harmless.”
The court identifies trial error but applies harmless error doctrine, explaining that erroneous expert testimony was cured by cumulative competent evidence from other qualified experts.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMichael Morris was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and armed burglary. The trial involved testimony from a homicide detective who off…
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PER CURIAM.
Michael Morris appeals his conviction of first degree murder, armed robbery, and armed burglary. We affirm. First, the jury selection conformed to the requirements of State v. Slappy, 522 So. 2d 18 (Fla.), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1219, 108 S.Ct. 2873, 101 L.Ed.2d 909 (1988), and State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla.1984). Second, no abuse of discretion has been shown with respect to the court's excusing of two prospective jurors for cause. See Lara v. State, 464 So. 2d 1173, 1178-79 (Fla.1985). Third, the trial court properly applied the hearsay rule to exclude certain statements made by the defendant to a detective. See Fagan v. State, 425 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983).
With regard to Morris’ fourth point on appeal, the homicide detective should not have been allowed to offer an opinion regarding blood spatter.* However, the testimony was cumulative to that of the forensic serologist and medical examiner and therefore the error was harmless. Fifth, the State has conceded that in light of Ramirez v. State, 542 So. 2d 352 (Fla.1989), announced after Morris’ trial, the criminalist should not have been allowed to opine that the machete was the murder weapon. The evidence was harmless, however, since it was undisputed that it was the murder weapon. Finally, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient. See State v. Law, 15 F.L.W. S241 (Fla. Apr. 16, 1990) (on rehearing); Heiney v. State, 447 So. 2d 210, 212 (Fla.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 920, 105 S.Ct. 303, 83 L.Ed.2d 237 (1984).
Affirmed.
*
The Witness: "My interpretation of the blood on him appeared to be spatter consistent with that that an individual gets on his body when being present during the time that someone is beaten and blood is sprayed out.”
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Citator
Cited By
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Lavon D. Jackson v. State, 729 So. 2d 947 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…jury may consider (1) overwhelming evidence [*953] of guilt in light of all the circumstances which occurred at trial, see Barry, supra at 526; (2) whether the evidence which was improperly presented to the jury was cumulative, see Morris v. State, 561 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990); (3) whether the error constituted a feature of the trial, see Salley, supra; (4) the magnitude of the error; and (5) whether the trial court’s instructions ameliorated the seriousness of the error. An analysis of all these factor…
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State v. Elkin, 595 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…ant if the defendant attempted to introduce it during her own testimony or through a witness. In that case it would be subject to the hearsay rule. Christopher, 583 So. 2d at 645; Guerrero v. State, 532 So. 2d 75 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Morris v. State, 561 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 576 So. 2d 289 (Fla.1990); Fagan v. State, 425 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Lowery v. State, 402 So. 2d 1287 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Logan v. State, 511 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Watkins v. State, 342 So. 2d 1057…
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Hedvall v. State, 283 So. 3d 901 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)…r, even if the trial court erred in finding Detective Underwood was qualified to offer testimony on blood pattern analysis, his testimony was cumulative of the medical examiner’s testimony and the error was therefore harmless. See Morris v. State, 561 So. 2d 646, 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (“With regard to Morris’ fourth point on appeal, the homicide detective should not have been allowed to offer an opinion regarding blood spatter. However, the testimony was cumulative to that of the forensic serologist and me…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1984)
- State v. Slappy, 522 So. 2d 18 (Fla. 1988)
- Heiney v. State, 447 So. 2d 210 (Fla. 1984)
- Men's Int'l Prof'l Tennis Council v. Volvo N. Am. Corp., 487 U.S. 1219 (U.S. 1988)
- Waste Mgmt. of Wis., Inc. v. Wis. Dep't of Natural Res., 487 U.S. 1219 (U.S. 1988)
- Garrison v. Hudson, 469 U.S. 920 (U.S. 1984)
- Ramirez v. State, 542 So. 2d 352 (Fla. 1989)
- Lara v. State, 464 So. 2d 1173 (Fla. 1985)
- Scottie Dale Fagan v. State, 425 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)