SHERMAN FLETCHER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Sherman Fletcher appealed his convictions for aggravated assault with a firearm and battery, challenging the trial court's admission of victim testimony that rebutted his claim that he had never pointed a gun at anyone. The Florida District Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that Fletcher opened the door to impeachment by testifying about his responsible firearm use and denying prior displays of guns.
The trial court properly admitted the victim's rebuttal testimony because Fletcher opened the door to impeachment by his broad and self-serving testimony about his firearm use, making the testimony relevant for impeachment purposes beyond merely proving bad character or propensity for violence. The scope of cross-examination was appropriate given Fletcher's self-serving direct testimony.
[1] A defendant opens the door to impeachment regarding their prior conduct when they testify broadly and self-servingly on direct examination about related matters.
[2] Rebuttal testimony is permissible impeachment of a defendant's prior testimony concerning their use of firearms.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“appellant opened the door to impeachment regarding appellant's prior display of a firearm”
Establishes the key doctrine that Fletcher's own testimony about his firearm use and truthfulness allowed the prosecution to introduce impeaching evidence
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFletcher testified at trial that he had never pointed a gun at anybody and characterized himself as a responsible firearm user. During cross-examinati…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant seeks reversal of his convictions for aggravated assault with a firearm and battery on the ground that the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony from the victim. We affirm.
During his direct testimony at trial appellant testified that he has never pointed a gun at anybody; he also testified that he is a responsible user of firearms. On cross-examination by the state, appellant testified about an episode in which he displayed a firearm, tucked in his belt, while trying to disperse an altercation. He denied ever displaying a gun while acquaintances of the victim were visiting the victim.
In rebuttal, the state recalled the victim of the charged offenses who testified that appellant had displayed a gun in front of the victim and another person on an occasion prior to the commission of the instant offenses, and that the gun had been placed up against the victim’s chest and “pounded” several times by appellant. Appellant objected to this testimony on the ground that the state was impeaching him on a collateral matter, and that the state had failed to give proper Williams rule notice.
The trial judge, who was acting without a jury, overruled appellant’s objections, but the judge cautioned the state that it would only consider the victim’s rebuttal testimony as impeachment of appellant’s testimony regarding the manner in which appellant used firearms.
On appeal, the appellant argues that admission of the victim’s rebuttal testimony was reversible error because such testimony was relevant only as proof of appellant’s bad character or his propensity for violence. Appellant urges further that the state’s cross-examination of the appellant exceeded the scope of direct examination.
We are of the view that appellant opened the door to impeachment regarding appellant’s prior display of a firearm. See, Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 608.1 (1992 ed.). Because impeachment was permissible, the victim’s rebuttal testimony was relevant for a reason other than proof of bad character or propensity for violence. Also, given appellant’s broad and self-serving testimony on direct examination, we find no error in the scope of cross-examination.
Thus, the convictions are AFFIRMED.
BOOTH, SMITH and MINER, JJ., concur.
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Bozeman v. State, 698 So. 2d 629 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…th DCA 1991); Dodson v. State, 356 So. 2d 878 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Hernandez v. State, 569 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Davis v. State, 216 So. 2d 87 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968); Allred v. State, 642 So. 2d 650 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Fletcher v. [*631] State, 619 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). The “opening the door” concept is based on considerations of fairness and the truth-seeking function of a trial, where cross-examination reveals the whole story of a transaction only partly explained in direct examination. For…
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Mosley v. State, 739 So. 2d 672 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…(Fla. 4th DCA 1991); Dodson v. State, 356 So. 2d 878 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Hernandez v. State, 569 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Davis v. State, 216 So. 2d 87 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968); Allred v. State, 642 So. 2d 650 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Fletcher v. State, 619 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). The “opening the door” concept is based on considerations of fairness and the truth-seeking function of a trial, where cross-examination reveals the whole story of a transaction only partly explained in direct examination. For e…
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Simmons v. State, 790 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)…DCA 1994)(by testifying that he lacked a violent propensity and asserting that he had never hit a woman, defendant opened the door to rebuttal evidence that he had previously physically assaulted his former wife and a girlfriend); Fletcher v. State, 619 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)(where defendant testified during his direct examination that he had never pointed a gun at anybody and that he was a responsible user of firearms, the state was properly allowed to introduce evidence of an episode wherein the def…
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