JERRY MEANS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Jerry Means appeals his conviction and sentence for capital sexual battery. The Florida First District Court of Appeal affirms, holding that the child victim's testimony and out-of-court statements, despite minor inconsistencies in details, provided legally sufficient evidence of the penile-vaginal union element required for conviction.
The court held that the standard of review is not whether testimony contains any inconsistencies, but whether it is 'so ambiguous, so unreliable or so incredible that no reasonable juror could find [Appellant] guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.' The child's testimony and statements met this standard because she never wavered in her accusations against the appellant and provided sufficient evidence of the union element for submission to the jury.
[1] A conviction may be sustained by a child victim's testimony and out-of-court statements, even if those statements contain some inconsistencies, as long as they are not so…
[2] Inconsistencies in a child victim's testimony do not automatically diminish the reliability of their statements to the extent that a conviction cannot be sustained.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“our standard of review is not whether the child's testimony and out-of-court statements contain any inconsistencies but whether they were 'so ambiguous, so unreliable or so incredible that no reasonable juror could find [Appellant] guilty beyond [a] reasonable doubt.'”
Establishes the correct legal standard for evaluating the sufficiency of a child witness's testimony despite inconsistencies
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA child victim testified at trial that the appellant touched her vagina with his penis. She demonstrated the alleged conduct using dolls, showed consi…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant challenges his conviction and sentence for capital sexual battery. We affirm.
At trial, the only evidence to support the charge came from the child-victim — both from her testimony and her out-of-court statements admitted pursuant to section 90.803(23), Florida Statutes (1999).1 At all times, the child remained remarkably consistent in describing her encounter with Appellant, even if she was sometimes inconsistent with the exact details. While she may have been somewhat ambiguous at trial on the essential element of penile-vaginal union, she did testify that Appellant touched her vagina with his penis. She also used dolls to demonstrate what happened, and, without objection, the trial court allowed the record to reflect that the male genital area of one doll was touched to the female genital area of the other doll. Finally, in her interview with the Child Protection Team investigator, she clearly described penile-vaginal union.
Appellant asserts that this case is controlled by State v. Green, 667 So. 2d 756 (Fla.1995), and that Green stands for the proposition that inconsistent statements alone are insufficient to sustain a conviction as a matter of law.2 However, in Green, the court found “that the reliability of the child’s statement identifying Green had been so diminished by the child’s other testimony that we could not have sufficient confidence in the criminal conviction to allow it to stand.” Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. M.B., 701 So. 2d 1155, 1162 (Fla.1997). Thus, our standard of review is not whether the child’s testimony and out-of-court statements contain any inconsistencies but whether they were “so ambiguous, so unreliable or so incredible that no reasonable juror could find [Ajppellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Gay v. State, 607 So. 2d 464, 459 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992).
The facts in this case are clearly distinguishable from Green. In that case, the child unequivocally accused the defendant in her out-of-court statements and then unequivocally recanted that accusation at trial and also accused an entirely different person. In this case, the child has never wavered in her accusations against Appellant; she just has been somewhat inconsistent in describing the exact details. However, she did provide testimony and statements that were “sufficient to submit the union element of capital sexual battery to the jury and make the denial of [Appellant's [motion for] judgment of acquittal proper.” Gay, 607 So. 2d at 459.
Accordingly, because there was legally sufficient evidence presented from which the jury could draw a reasonable inference of guilt, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
MINER, WOLF and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., CONCUR. . We find no merit to Appellant’s claim that the trial court improperly admitted the child's statements.
. See also Holmon v. State, 603 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), disapproved on other grounds by, State v. Green, 667 So. 2d 756 (Fla.1995); Coleman v. State, 592 So. 2d 300 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991).
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Bernardino Cabrera v. State, 206 So. 3d 768 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)…maturity of the child ... and any other factor deemed appropriate.'”); Rodriguez v. State, 77 So. 3d 649, 651 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) (de [*775] scribing that “the child’s answers were given using words consistent with a child her age”); Means v. State, 814 So. 2d 1136, 1137 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (recognizing that the child’s testimony was “inconsistent with the exact details”). I disagree with the dissent that the trial court abused its discretion by not giving more reasons for discounting the victim’s nonsensical…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Green, 667 So. 2d 756 (Fla. 1995)
- Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. M.B., 701 So. 2d 1155 (Fla. 1997)
- Coleman v. State, 592 So. 2d 300 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)
- State v. Elain Orozco and Claudia Monegro, 607 So. 2d 464 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- Holmon v. State, 603 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)