ANDREW J. MORRIS, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1998-12-10
No. 90427
OVERTON, SHAW, KOGAN, WELLS, ANSTEAD and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.
721 So. 2d 725 Florida Supreme Court (1998) Caution
Cited by 21 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

The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict between two district courts regarding whether a defendant must renew a motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of all evidence to preserve it for appellate review. The Court held that renewal is unnecessary once the motion is made at the close of the State's case.


Holding

A defendant is not required to renew a motion for judgment of acquittal after presenting evidence. Once the motion is made at the close of the State's case and brought to the trial court's attention, the issue is preserved for appellate review.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal is not waived by the subsequent introduction of evidence on behalf of the defendant if the motion is renewed at the close o…

[2] Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.380 expressly prevents the application of the federal waiver rule concerning motions for judgment of acquittal.

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Key Quotes

“A motion for judgment of acquittal is not waived by subsequent introduction of evidence on behalf of the defendant, but after introduction of evidence by the defendant, the motion for judgment of acquittal must be renewed at the close of all the evidence.”

The actual text of rule 3.380(b) that the Court found internally inconsistent and subject to interpretation

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Facts & Procedural History

Morris moved for judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the State's case, which the trial judge denied. Morris then presented evidence but did not…

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Opinion of the Court
HARDING, Chief Justice.

HARDING, Chief Justice.

We have for review Morris v. State, 689 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), which expressly and directly conflicts with the opinion in In re T.M.M., 560 So. 2d 805 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution. For the reasons expressed below, we quash the decision in Morris and remand this ease for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The conflict in these two cases stems from an interpretation of rule 3.380(b) of the Flori-da Rules of Criminal Procedure. Specifically, the cases are in conflict regarding the requirements for preserving a motion for judgment of acquittal.

In Morris, Morris moved for judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the State’s case, which the trial judge denied. Morris presented evidence and did not renew this motion at the conclusion of all the evidence. Morris appealed the trial court’s denial of his motion at the end of the State’s case. The district court held that a motion for judgment of acquittal must be repeated at the close of all the evidence in order to preserve the denial of such a motion on appeal.

Similarly, in T.M.M., K.L.M. moved for judgment of acquittal at the close of the State’s case, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, which the trial court denied. K.L.M. presented evidence and did not renew the motion at the close of all the evidence. The district court held that the trial court erred in not granting K.L.M.’s motion for judgment of acquittal since the State failed to present legally sufficient evidence to make a prima facie showing. The district court stated that the “failure to renew such motion at the close of all the evidence does not preclude this court from reviewing the denial of the motion after the state’s case in chief.” T.M.M., 560 So. 2d at 807.

Rule 3.380(b) states:

(b) Waiver. A motion for judgment of acquittal is not waived by subsequent introduction of evidence on behalf of the defendant, but after introduction of evidence by the defendant, the motion for judgment of acquittal must be renewed at the close of all the evidence. The motion must fully set forth the grounds on which it is based.

Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.380(b) (emphasis added). We note that the wording of rule 3.380(b) is internally inconsistent. The rule provides that an initial motion for judgment of acquittal is not waived by the subsequent introduction of evidence, yet the rule still requires that the initial motion be renewed. If the initial motion is not waived, we see no reason why it needs to be renewed.

In State v. Pennington, 534 So. 2d 393 (Fla. 1988), this Court affirmed the waiver clause of rule 3.380(b) by holding that the federal waiver rule does not apply in Florida. The Court in Pennington was asked the following certified question:

Where the state has failed to make a prima facie case and the defendant moves for a judgment of acquittal which is denied and thereafter, during the defendant’s case evidence is presented that supplies essential elements of the state’s case, is it reversible error for the trial court to deny the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal made at the conclusion of all of the evidence?

Id. at 394. The Court answered the question in the affirmative. Thus, even if the missing element is supplied during the defendant’s presentation, the conviction will still be reversed where the state failed to make a prima facie case at the close of the State’s evidence.

Therefore, we hold that it is unnecessary to require a defendant to renew the motion for a judgment of acquittal after the defendant has presented evidence. Once the motion has been made at the close of the State’s case and brought to the trial court’s attention, the trial court has been given an opportunity to rule on the precise issue. The issue should then be considered preserved for appellate review. Rule 3.380(b) shall be interpreted consistent with our opinion today.

Accordingly, we quash the decision below and remand this case to the district court to review Morris’s motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the State’s case.

It is so ordered.

OVERTON, SHAW, KOGAN, WELLS, ANSTEAD and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (12 total)

  • Brooks v. State, 762 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 2000)
    …don't think we did and I would join in that.” We note that renewing a motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of all the evidence is no longer necessary to preserve a sufficiency of the evidence claim for appellate review. See Morris v. State, 721 So. 2d 725, 726 (Fla.1998); see also Amendment to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.380(b), 745 So. 2d 319 (Fla. 1998) (amending rule 3.380(b) of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure to reflect holding in Morris). . Premeditation, as an element of first…
  • Costa T. Vathis v. State, 729 So. 2d 453 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
    …battery and lewd, lascivious, or indecent assault. Even though the defense put on evidence, appellant was under no obligation thereafter to renew the motion for judgment of acquittal he made at the close of the state’s evidence. See Morris v. State, 721 So. 2d 725, 726 (Fla.1998). But that motion did not preserve the sufficiency points now argued on appeal. See, e.g., Clark v. State, 635 So. 2d 68, 68-69 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Showers v. State, 570 So. 2d 377, 378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Cornwell v. State, 425 So.…
  • Baker v. State, 760 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)
    …se of the state’s case because the evidence was insufficient (independent of Baker’s out-of-court statements and confessions) to establish the elements of either armed robbery or first degree felony murder. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.380(b); Morris v. State, 721 So. 2d 725 (Fla.1998). This argument references two different rules in criminal cases: corpus delicti and necessity to acquit a defendant if the state fails to prove a prima facie case before resting. With regard to the corpus delicti rule,1 the prosecution m…

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