DANNY L. REEVES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2003-10-22
No. 1D02-3505
BOOTH and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
862 So. 2d 60 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2003) Caution
Cited by 6 cases

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Holding

The court held that the trial court did not err in admitting the child victim's videotaped interview or in limiting cross-examination regarding prior false accusations and religious beliefs.


Headnotes

[1] Evidence of prior false accusations by a witness is generally inadmissible to attack credibility, unless the witness has recanted the prior accusation.

[2] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by excluding cross-examination regarding a witness's religious beliefs or unusual religious experiences when offered to impeac…

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant was convicted of simple battery, showing obscene material to a minor, and lewd conduct. He appealed, arguing the trial court erred by admitt…

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Opinion of the Court
POLSTON, J.

POLSTON, J.

Appellant Danny L. Reeves appeals his conviction of one count of simple battery (a lesser-included offense to the charged offense of sexual battery on a child less than twelve years of age by a person eighteen years of age or older), one count of showing obscene material to a minor, and one count of lewd or lascivious conduct. Appellant argues that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence the child victim’s videotaped interview by a member of the child protection team. We reject this argument without further comment. Appellant also argues that the trial court improperly limited his cross-examination of the victim by granting the State’s motions in limine. Appellant sought to cross-exam ine the victim (i) regarding alleged false prior accusations of sexual misconduct that she had made against her father, and (ii) to attack the victim’s credibility by her statement that she saw Jesus. We affirm the trial court’s evidentiary rulings.

7. Prior False Accusations

Generally, other than evidence of prior convictions under section 90.610(1), Florida Statutes, credibility may not be attacked by proof that the witness has committed specific acts of misconduct which bear on the truthfulness of the witness. See Fernandez v. State, 730 So. 2d 277, 282 (Fla.1999); Baker v. State, 804 So. 2d 564, 567 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002); Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 610.8 at 540-41 (2003 ed.).

However, appellant argues that an exception applies because the victim previously falsely accused her father of sexual misconduct, citing Cliburn v. State, 710 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) and Jaggers v. State, 536 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). In Cliburn and Jaggers, the victims admitted that they had previously made false statements. 710 So. 2d at 670, 536 So. 2d at 327. In this case, the victim has not recanted her statements, so the exception recognized by the Second District Court of Appeal is not applicable. Therefore, we do not address whether such an exception is appropriate. See Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 610.8 at 541 (2003 ed.)(“Occasionally decisions ignore the limitation and permit impeachment with prior acts of misconduct of a witness when they involve prior false accusations of a crime by a witness,” citing Clibum and Jaggers).

II. Seeing Jesus

The appellant sought to cross-examine the victim about her statements in a deposition that when she told her mother what had happened to her, she saw Jesus standing in the room, demons were cast out of her, and she rolled on the floor and “spit out the evil that Uncle Dan [the appellant] put in me.” The appellant argued at trial that the trial court should allow this testimony because it demonstrated that the victim did not have the ability to perceive the difference between fantasy and reality.1 The trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to allow the cross-examination, pursuant to section 90.611, Florida Statutes.

Section 90.611 states that “[e]vidence of the beliefs or opinions of a witness on matters of religion is inadmissible to show that the witness’s credibility is impaired or enhanced thereby.” The appellant’s stated purpose in introducing this testimony was so the jury would find the victim’s experiences and practices so unusual that it would consider them “fantasy,” thereby impairing the victim’s credibility. Even though appellant considered seeing Jesus to be so unconventional or unusual so as to be “fantasy,” section 90.611 does not permit evidence to be admitted that discloses the witness’s practice of “unconventional or unusual religion.” See Charles W. Eh-rhardt, Florida Evidence § 611.1 at 543 (2003 ed.)(citing United States v. Sampol, 636 F. 2d 621, 666 (D.C.Cir.1980)(ruling that “[t]he fact that [the witness] professed adherence to a religion which is not commonly shared does not prevent the application of the rule”)); see also United States v. Kalaydjian, 784 F. 2d 53, 56 (2d Cir.1986)(rejecting attempt to distinguish between cross-examining a witness regarding his religious beliefs and cross-examining him regarding conduct that is sig nificant because of the witness’s religious beliefs).2

Therefore, we conclude that the trial court did not err by granting the State’s motions in limine.

AFFIRMED.

BOOTH and WEBSTER, JJ., concur. . On appeal, appellant argues that the trial court erred by refusing to allow the statement that the victim saw Jesus standing in the room, but does not raise the exclusion of the other statements as error. . Federal Rule of Evidence 610 is virtually the same as section 90.611. Therefore, federal decisions construing Rule 610 are persuasive. See Hall v. Oakley, 409 So. 2d 93, 97 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).


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Cited By

  • Fehringer v. State, 976 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)
    …thus, the error cannot be deemed harmless. In this case, it appears that S.H. had not recanted her prior accusations. The state thus argues that the trial court’s denial of defendant’s request to make a proffer was harmless, citing Reeves v. State, 862 So. 2d 60, 61 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003). In Reeves, the First District held that the trial court’s exclusion of evidence that the victim had previously accused her father of sexual abuse was proper because the victim had not recanted her statements regarding this p…
  • Roebuck v. State, 953 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
    …e Baker v. State, 804 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (acknowledging the Second District’s exception while declining to expressly adopt the exception where any error would have been harmless in light of defendant’s confession); Reeves v. [*43] State, 862 So. 2d 60 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (declining to rule on applicability of the Second District’s false reporting exception because the witness in question had not admitted that her previous accusation was false); State v. Taylor, 928 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)…
  • State v. Taylor, 928 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)
    …est performed by the trial judge who is present and best able to compare the two.”). No clear legal error has occurred here, particularly where there is no context in which to view the testimony as no trial has yet taken place. Cf. Reeves v. State, 862 So. 2d 60, 61 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (affirming conviction and finding trial court did not err in granting State’s motion in limine which prevented appellant from cross-examining victim regarding alleged prior false accusations of sexual misconduct she had made…

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