JOE D. BRYANT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2001-05-09
No. 2D99-1197
THREADGILL, A.C.J., and FULMER, J., concur.
787 So. 2d 904 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 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

Joe D. Bryant was convicted of battery, lewd conduct with a child, and showing obscene material to a minor based on a victim's testimony and computer evidence. The Florida appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, finding that the trial court erroneously admitted Williams Rule evidence (prior bad acts) that failed to meet the clear and convincing standard and was highly prejudicial.


Holding

The trial court erred in admitting the 24 additional computer images as Williams Rule evidence because: (1) the State presented no direct evidence that Bryant placed the images on the hard drive, failing to meet the clear and convincing standard; (2) the images showed different subject matter than those described by the victim; and (3) the evidence was highly prejudicial. The error was not harmless and required reversal and a new trial.


Headnotes

[1] Evidence of collateral offenses is inadmissible under the Williams Rule unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed the prior offense.

[2] The probative value of collateral offense evidence may be outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

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Key Quotes

“Before evidence of a collateral offense can be admitted under the Williams Rule, there must be clear and convincing evidence that the former offense was actually committed by the defendant.”

Establishes the legal standard required for admission of prior bad acts evidence under the Williams Rule

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Facts & Procedural History

A fourteen-year-old victim testified that Bryant exposed her to obscene pictures on a computer and committed sexual battery during a sleepover at his …

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Opinion of the Court
BLUE, Judge.

BLUE, Judge.

Joe D. Bryant seeks reversal of the judgments and sentences after a jury found him guilty of battery, handling or fondling a child under sixteen in a lewd, lascivious or indecent manner, and showing obscene material to a minor. Bryant raises four issues for our review. Three have no merit, but we conclude the trial court erred in the admission of Williams

Rule evidence, requiring reversal for a new trial.

The fourteen-year-old victim testified that Bryant exposed her to obscene pictures on a computer, touched her inappropriately, and committed sexual battery by digital penetration. This allegedly occurred on the first night of a two-night sleep over with Bryant’s daughter at Bryant’s home. The State also presented as evidence obscene photographs, recovered from the hard drive of a computer at Bryant’s home, that had been generated the night of the sleep over. Although admittedly obscene, the images did not match the description of the pictures the victim described seeing. Also present at Bryant’s home on the night in question were Bryant’s eleven-year-old son, fourteen-year-old daughter and twenty-two-year-old daughter. They all testified at trial and denied observing any of the conduct leading to the charges.

After the defense rested, the State offered into evidence twenty-four additional photographs that had been recovered from the computer hard drive. The State’s computer expert revealed that these additional images were placed on the hard drive over a three-month period of time ending some two weeks to a month before the night of Bryant’s alleged criminal activity in this case. The defense objected to the admission of these additional images.

We conclude the admission of these additional computer images was error that requires we remand for a new trial. First, the State presented no direct evidence that the computer images were placed onto the hard drive by Bryant. “Before evidence of a collateral offense can be admitted under the Williams Rule, there must be clear and convincing evidence that the former offense was actually committed by the defendant.” Audano v. State, 641 So. 2d 1356, 1358-59 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). We acknowledge that of all the persons having access to the computer, Bryant was the one most likely to have viewed these images. However, this does not meet the clear and convincing standard necessary for the admission of the Williams Rule evidence. Second, and more importantly to our decision, a comparison of the images introduced during the case in chief and the images introduced as Williams Rule rebuttal reveals a distinct difference in subject matter. Except for one pornographic cartoon, the first set of images showed undressed adolescent and pre-adolescent girls. The rebuttal evidence contained numerous images of sexual activity. Third, this rebuttal evidence was highly prejudicial. Even if we agreed the evidence was admissible, we would question whether its probative value was outweighed by the prejudice.

This was a close case with credibility being a primary issue. We note that the jury was not entirely convinced, as shown by the lesser included verdict for simple battery on the charge of sexual battery. Because we have determined that the erroneous admission of the rebuttal Williams Rule evidence was not harmless, we reverse all convictions and remand for a new trial.

Reversed and remanded.

THREADGILL, A.C.J., and FULMER, J., concur. . Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla.1959).


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Citator

Cited By

  • Cook v. State, 921 So. 2d 631 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
    …s equivalent to the clear and convincing evidence standard, see Ferris v. Turlington, 510 So. 2d 292 (Fla.1987). The State was also required to establish the basis for C.B.’s similar fact testimony by clear and convincing proof. See Bryant v. State, 787 So. 2d 904, 905 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).7 These circumstances are not, however, adequate to justify application of collateral estoppel. Two of the prerequisites for giving preclusive effect to a prior judgment are lacking here. We thus base our holding on two inte…
  • Henrion v. State, 895 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
    …obertson v. State, 829 So. 2d 901, 907-08 (Fla.2002); Smith v. State, 700 So. 2d 446, 447 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). The offering party is required to prove the defendant’s connection with the similar act by clear and convincing evidence. Bryant v. State, 787 So. 2d 904, 905 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); Preciose v. State, 829 So. 2d 381 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Acevedo v. State, 787 So. 2d 127, 130 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001). In order for evidence of a collateral act to be admissible “there must be proof of a connection between the def…
  • Stephenson v. State, 31 So. 3d 847 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)
    …r’s culpability presented close questions and the determinative nature of the jury’s perception of this mother in resolving those questions made the abortion issue all the more deleterious to the mother’s chance at a fair trial. See Bryant v. State, 787 So. 2d 904, 906 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (reversing where State was improperly allowed to offer collateral offense evidence of pornographic images and observing “[t]his was a close case with credibility being a primary issue”); DeFreitas, 701 So. 2d at 599 (concludi…

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