GREGORY BULLARD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1995-01-18
No. 93-1144
STEVENSON, J., concurs., STONE, J., concurs specially with opinion.
650 So. 2d 631 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1995) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Gregory Bullard appealed his conviction for first degree felony murder and attempted robbery with a firearm, challenging the trial court's denial of his request for an expert witness on police coercion and confessions. The court affirmed the conviction but reversed and remanded for resentencing due to the trial court's use of an incorrect sentencing guideline scoresheet.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the appointment of the expert witness because the jury was capable of assessing without expert aid whether threats of death could coerce a confession, and there was no evidence of police misconduct beyond Bullard's unsupported assertion. However, the trial court erred in using the wrong sentencing guideline scoresheet and the case is remanded for resentencing using the correct Category 3 scoresheet with attempted robbery with a firearm as the primary offense.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by denying a request for a police coercion expert when there is no evidence of police misconduct other than the defendant's te…

[2] Expert testimony is not required when the jury is capable of assessing the coercive effect of a threat without specialized knowledge.

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Key Quotes

“expert testimony should be excluded when the facts testified to are of such a nature as to not require any special knowledge or expertise in order for the judge or jury to form conclusions”

Establishes the standard for when expert testimony is unnecessary, even if requested by an indigent defendant

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Facts & Procedural History

Bullard was convicted of first degree felony murder and attempted robbery with a firearm. He confessed to the crimes while in custody and argued this …

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Opinion of the Court
POLEN, Judge.

POLEN, Judge.

Gregory Bullard appeals his conviction and sentence for first degree felony murder and attempted robbery with a firearm. We affirm the conviction, but find that Bullard’s point I on appeal requires some additional discussion.

As point I on appeal, Bullard argued that the trial court erred in denying his request for the appointment of an expert on police thought control and coercion. Bullard asserted that he needed this expert to testify that the threat of death in the electric chair is sufficient to overcome the voluntariness of a confession. Without this expert, Bullard contended that he was being denied a defense to the charges against him.

We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by failing to appoint the requested expert. There were no facts other than Bullard’s testimony to support any police misconduct, or threats of any kind. In addition, the testimony of other witnesses and Bullard’s codefendants actually supports the truthfulness of what Bullard contends was a “false” confession. Further, no expert was required at bar since it is safe to say that the jury was capable of assessing without the aid of an expert witness that the threat of death in the electric chair may have a coercive effect on whether a suspect gives an in-custody statement. See Johnson v. State, 393 So. 2d 1069, 1072 (Fla.1980), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 882, 102 S.Ct. 364, 70 L.Ed.2d 191 (1981) (expert testimony should be excluded when the facts testified to are of such a nature as to not require any special knowledge or expertise in order for the judge or jury to form conclusions).

Our determination that the trial court correctly denied the appointment of an expert at bar, does not in any way lessen the trial court’s duty to appoint an expert witness when required by an indigent defendant, and when that expert’s opinion is relevant to the issues of the case. Fla.Stat. § 914.06 (1993). We also fully acknowledge that an indigent defendant requires more than mere access to the courts, but also requires the necessary raw materials to build his defense. Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985). However, an indigent defendant’s right to the appointment of experts is not unfettered, and is obviously limited to those situations where the expert’s testimony is relevant and necessary. To appoint an expert in a situation such as the one at bar, where there is no evidence of police coercion other than the defendant’s unsupported assertion, and the defendant’s allegedly false confession is consistent with the testimony of other witnesses and codefendants, would clearly be stretching the bounds of when the court should appoint an expert. Accordingly, we affirm Bullard’s’ conviction.1

We do however, reverse and remand for resentencing, as the trial court used the wrong scoresheet. A category three (3) scoresheet should have been used, with attempted robbery with a firearm scored as the primary offense. See Rivas v. State, 554 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (offense of capital sexual battery on a child was not subject to guideline sentence and could not be scored as primary offense and life felony on guideline scoresheet).

STEVENSON, J., concurs.

STONE, J., concurs specially with opinion.

. We recognize that in State v. Sawyer, 561 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), the court discusses the trial court’s having exercised its discretion to appoint a similar expert for the defendant. The facts in Sawyer, however, are distinguishable. Most importantly, the trial court in Sawyer having exercised its discretion in favor of appointing such an expert does not render it reversible error in the instant case to have denied such exercise of discretion.

Concurrence
STONE, Judge,

STONE, Judge,

concurring specially.

I concur specially only to note that in my judgment it is doubtful that the defendant would be entitled to this expert even if there was inconsistent testimony by other witnesses or other evidence in support of a claim of coercion. In all other respects, I concur in the majority opinion.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Beltran v. State, 700 So. 2d 132 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)
    …ered at the suppression hearing. We question whether such testimony, which amounts to no more than an expert’s assessment that the confession is involuntary, is ever admissible. Cf. Johnson v. State, 438 So. 2d 774, 777 (Fla.1983); Bullard v. State, 650 So. 2d 631, 632 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). Nevertheless, even if such testimony might be admissible in some cases, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to hear it in this case. Relying on a study of college students showing the inci…
  • Lavender v. State, 889 So. 2d 882 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
    …ion is relevant to the issues of the case. See § 914.06, Fla. Stat. (2003). This is true because an indigent defendant requires more than mere access to the courts; he also requires the necessary raw materials to build his defense. Bullard v. State, 650 So. 2d 631, 632 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995) (citing Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985)). However, an indigent defendant’s right to the appointment of experts is not unfettered, and is obviously limited to those situations where the expe…

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