KEITH A. GALLEGOS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Keith Gallegos was convicted of sexual activity with a child while in a position of familial authority as the victim's stepfather. On appeal, he challenged his counsel's ineffectiveness for failing to object to certain evidence and jury instructions, but the court found no error or only harmless error and affirmed the conviction.
The appellate court found no error in the admission of the evidence, or alternatively that any such error was harmless. Counsel's failure to object was therefore also harmless error, and the conviction was affirmed.
[1] Evidence of a defendant's prior felony conviction is admissible when the defendant testifies.
[2] Evidence of a defendant's past abusive behavior and possession of firearms may be admissible to show the relationship between the defendant and the victim, rather than to…
Previewing 2 of 5 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“Most of the acts alleged to be other crimes or mere evidence of bad character we find to be neither. For example, allegations that the defendant wrote letters to the victim, that he prevented the victim from seeing boys or having friends over to the house, that he treated the victim badly, and that he had the victim give him back and foot massages, while relevant to the relationship between the defendant and the victim, is not evidence of bad character or other crimes.”
Establishes that evidence about the defendant-victim relationship was admissible as relevant to the charged offense rather than as bad character or other crimes evidence.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGallegos, the victim's stepfather, was convicted of sexual activity with a child over twelve but under sixteen years of age while in a position of fam…
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HARRIS, Judge.
Keith A. Gallegos was convicted of sexual activity with a child over twelve years of age but under sixteen years of age while he was in a position of familial authority. He was the victim’s stepfather. His basic argument on appeal is that his counsel was ineffective in not objecting to certain “other crime” and “bad character” evidence and in failing to request appropriate jury instructions. We affirm.
We review the allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel in this appeal under the exception announced in Blanco v. Wainwright, 507 So. 2d 1377 (Fla.1987), because the record below is sufficient to enable us to determine the issue. We find no error (or only harmless error) and affirm.
Most of the acts alleged to be other crimes or mere evidence of bad character we find to be neither. For example, allegations that the defendant wrote letters to the victim, that he prevented the victim from seeing boys or having friends over to the house, that he treated the victim badly, and that he had the victim give him back and foot massages, while relevant to the relationship between the defendant and the victim, is not evidence of bad character or other crimes. The fact that the defendant was a convicted felon came in because he took the stand. The fact that he had been abusive and had firearms in the house was not offered to show some “other crime,” but was relevant to show the relationship between the parties as it related to the specific act alleged in the information. See Griffin v. State, 639 So. 2d 966 (Fla.1994), cert denied, 514 U.S. 1005, 115 S.Ct. 1317, 131 L.Ed.2d 198 (1995).
The fact that there was mention that the defendant had met the victim’s mother several years earlier in her drug treatment class does not establish a continuing drug problem, even if it implied that he might have had one in the past. It is simply not so prejudicial as to require a new trial.
In short, we find that if any error was committed in the admission of these facts, such error was harmless. Therefore, counsel’s failure to object, even if error, was likewise harmless.
AFFIRMED.
PETERSON, C.J., and ORFINGER, R., Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Blanco v. Louie L. Wainwright, 507 So. 2d 1377 (Fla. 1987)
- Griffin v. State, 639 So. 2d 966 (Fla. 1994)
- Est. of Ravetti v. United States, 514 U.S. 1005 (U.S. 1995)