ERIC LAMONT COX, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2004-04-14
No. 3D02-755
Before GODERICH, GREEN, and WELLS, JJ.
869 So. 2d 1258 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2004) Caution
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Eric Lamont Cox appeals his convictions for burglary with assault or battery, battery on a person sixty-five or older, and strong-arm robbery. The trial court admitted evidence of a collateral robbery under the Williams rule to prove identity based on similarities between the crimes. The court affirms, holding the collateral crime evidence was properly admitted.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the collateral crime evidence. Where collateral crime and the crime charged share unique features suggesting the same perpetrator, and similarities are substantial while dissimilarities are insubstantial, the collateral crime evidence is admissible under section 90.404(2)(a), Florida Statutes, to prove identity.


Headnotes

[1] Similar fact evidence of other crimes is admissible to prove identity when it shares unique features suggesting the same perpetrator.

[2] Similar fact evidence is inadmissible when it is relevant solely to prove bad character or propensity.

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Key Quotes

“[s]imilar fact evidence of other crimes ... is admissible when relevant to prove a material fact in issue, such as proof of ... identity ..., but it is inadmissible when the evidence is relevant solely to prove bad character or propensity.”

Establishes the legal standard under section 90.404(2)(a) for admitting collateral crime evidence

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Facts & Procedural History

Cox was charged with burglary with assault or battery, battery on a person sixty-five or older, and strong-arm robbery. Prior to trial, the State move…

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Opinion of the Court
GODERICH, Judge.

GODERICH, Judge.

The defendant, Eric Lamont Cox, appeals from his convictions and sentences. We affirm.

The defendant was charged with burglary with assault or battery; battery on a person sixty-five years of age or older; and strong arm robbery. Prior to trial, the State filed a motion to rely on Williams1 rule evidence to prove identity. Specifically, the State sought to introduce a subsequent robbery that the defendant had committed.

At the Williams rule hearing, the victims of both the collateral robbery and the robbery at issue testified. The trial court ruled that the collateral robbery was admissible because the testimonies of both victims were “virtually identical.”

Following a trial where the collateral crime was admitted, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged. This appeal follows.

The defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the collateral crime. We disagree.

Pursuant to section 90.404(2)(a), Florida Statutes (2000), “[s]imilar fact evidence of other crimes ... is admissible when relevant to prove a material fact in issue, such as proof of ... identity ..., but it is inadmissible when the evidence is relevant solely to prove bad character or propensity.” In order to introduce a collateral crime to establish identity, the collateral crime and the crime at issue “must share some unique features suggesting the same perpetrator.” Black v. State, 630 So. 2d 609, 618 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993), review denied, 639 So. 2d 976 (Fla.1994); see also Williams v. State, 662 So. 2d 419 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)(“Proper Williams rule evidence is that which possesses ‘obvious and telling similarities’ to the crime charged.”) (citations omitted); Drake v. State, 400 So. 2d 1217, 1219 (Fla.l981)(“A mere general similarity will not render the similar facts legally relevant to show identity.”).

Here, a careful review of the record indicates that both the collateral robbery and the robbery at issue share “unique features suggesting the same perpetrator.” Black, 630 So. 2d at 618. Further, contrary to the defendant’s assertion, although there were dissimilarities between the two crimes, the collateral crime was properly admitted where the dissimilarities were insubstantial and the similarities were unique. See Chandler v. State, 702 So. 2d 186, 194 (Fla.1997)(holding that although the collateral crime and crime charged were “not exactly the same,” collateral crime evidence still admissible where there were unique similarities between the two crimes), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1083, 118 S.Ct. 1535, 140 L.Ed.2d 685 (1998); Black, 630 So. 2d at 617-18 (holding that collateral crime admissible to establish identity where similarities are substantial and dissimilarities are inconsequential); Gore v. State, 599 So. 2d 978, 984 (Fla.)(holding that collateral crime admissible where “similarities are pervasive, and the dissimilarities insubstantial.”), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1003, 113 S.Ct. 610, 121 L.Ed.2d 545 (1992). Accordingly, we affirm the defendant’s convictions and sentences.

Affirmed.

. Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla.), cert. denied, 361 U.S. 847, 80 S.Ct. 102, 4 L.Ed.2d 86 (1959).


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Cited By

  • Avis Tannihill v. State, 912 So. 2d 2 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …ove bad character or propensity. Appellant argues that in order to introduce a collateral crime to establish identity, the collateral crime and the crime at issue must share some unique features suggesting the same perpetrator, citing Cox v. State, 869 So. 2d 1258 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004); Black v. State, 630 So. 2d 609 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). Appellant argues that because these were typical drug transactions, there was nothing unique about them and the trial court should not have admitted the collateral crime evidenc…

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