SCOTT ALFRED STROHM, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Scott Alfred Strohm was convicted of capital sexual battery against his daughter based on abuse occurring between 1990-1991. The appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of a 1973 rape conviction that was dissimilar and remote in time to the charged offense.
The court held that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the 1973 rape victim's testimony. The 17-year temporal gap, combined with substantial dissimilarities in the crimes (victim's age and relationship to defendant, manner of sexual abuse, frequency and duration), rendered the evidence of insufficient probative value relative to its prejudicial effect.
[1] Evidence of prior sexual offenses is admissible to corroborate a victim's testimony only if the prior offenses are substantially similar to the charged offense, close in…
[2] When admitting evidence of prior sexual offenses, trial courts must consider the similarity of the prior acts to the charged act, including the location, age and gender o…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“In assessing whether the probative value of evidence of previous molestations is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, the trial court should evaluate: (1) the similarity of the prior acts to the act charged regarding the location of where the acts occurred, the age and gender of the victims, and the manner in which the acts were committed; (2) the closeness in time of the prior acts to the act charged; (3) the frequency of the prior acts; and (4) the presence or lack of intervening circumstances.”
Establishes the four-factor test from McLean v. State for evaluating admissibility of prior acts of child molestation evidence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant Strohm was charged with two counts of capital sexual battery against his daughter, T.S., born in 1983. The alleged abuse occurred between Au…
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SHAHOOD, C.J.
Appellant, Scott Alfred Strohm, was charged by amended information with two counts of capital sexual battery against his daughter, T.S. The State nolle prossed count II before trial. The offense in count I was alleged to have occurred between 1990 and 1991.
Prior to trial, the State filed an Amended Notice of Intent to Offer Williams1 Rule Evidence, seeking to introduce a conviction of lewd or lascivious molestation on April 11, 2005 and a conviction of rape in 1974. A pretrial hearing was held and the Williams Rule witnesses testified. After the hearing, the trial court decided to allow into evidence the testimony of the victim of the 1973 rape, but deny the testimony of the other Williams Rule witnesses.
At trial, T.S., appellant’s daughter born in 1983, testified. She testified that between August 1990 and May 1991, appellant sexually abused her on almost a daily basis.
The victim of the 1973 rape testified that in Iowa appellant raped her when she was twelve years old. The victim did not know the appellant.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on count I capital sexual battery in this case. Appellant raises five issues on appeal, four of which we hold to be without merit and affirm without discussion. As his second issue, which forms the basis of our reversal, appellant urges the trial court abused its discretion in admitting collateral crime evidence in that the 1973 rape was dissimilar and remote in time to the crime for which he was currently on trial. We agree.
In McLean v. State, 934 So. 2d 1248 (Fla.2006), the Florida Supreme Court stated:
To guide the trial courts in deciding whether to admit evidence of prior acts of child molestation when it is offered to corroborate the victim’s testimony, we discuss the steps that the trial courts should take.
Id. at 1262. The court further stated:
In assessing whether the probative value of evidence of previous molestations is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, the trial court should evaluate: (1) the similarity of the prior acts to the act charged regarding the location of where the acts occurred, the age and gender of the victims, and the manner in which the acts were committed; (2) the closeness in time of the prior acts to the act charged; (3) the frequency of the prior acts; and (4) the presence or lack of intervening circumstances. This list is not exclusive. The trial courts should also consider other factors unique to the case.
Id.
The 1973 rape for which appellant was convicted in 1974 was on a twelve-year-old who testified that she did not know appellant. The capital sexual battery in this case was on appellant’s daughter and occurred between August 1990 and May 1991 when the victim was eight years old.
In addition, there were substantial other dissimilarities in the crimes. In the 1973 rape the victim was vaginally penetrated while the crime in the instant case consisted of another form of sexual abuse.
The 1973 rape was remote in time to the capital sexual battery charge in this case, seventeen years prior. The 1973 rape was a one-time occurrence on a stranger to the appellant. In this case the sexual battery was on appellant’s daughter over a several month period. In this case there was no evidence of “the presence or lack of intervening circumstances.” McLean, 934 So. 2d at 1262.
We conclude that it was error to admit the testimony of the 1973 rape victim. We, accordingly, reverse and remand for a new trial.
Reversed and Remanded For New Trial.
HAZOURI and DAMOORGIAN, JJ., concur. . Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla.1959).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Pulcini v. State, 41 So. 3d 338 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…prior acts to the act charged; (3) the frequency of the prior acts; and (4) the presence or lack of intervening circumstances. This list is not exclusive. The trial courts should also consider other factors unique to the case. Id. Strohm v. State, 985 So. 2d 640 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), is instructive. In Strohm, the defendant was tried and convicted on one count of capital sexual battery against his daughter. The offense allegedly occurred between 1990 and 1991. Id. at 641. The State sought to introduce a 2005…
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Jackson Pridemore v. State, 301 So. 3d 454 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)…However, the court also remarked that the “[r]emoteness factor would be less significant when the sexual abuse is generational or intrafamilial, and if the prior incidents were similar to the current act.” Id. at 346, n.3. See Strohm v. State, 985 So. 2d 640, 642 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008) (seventeen years prior); Woodard v. State, 978 So. 2d 217, 220 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (seventeen years prior); Cann v. State, 958 So. 2d 545, 546 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (over ten years prior). In another category of cases, w…
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Strohm v. State, 84 So. 3d 1181 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…Scott Strohm appeals his judgment and sentence after being found guilty of committing capital sexual battery against a minor. We affirm. By way of background, Strohm was previously tried for the same crime and was found guilty. See Strohm v. State, 985 So. 2d 640, 641 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008) (hereinafter “Strohm /”). He appealed, and this Court reversed his conviction and remanded for a new trial because impermissible collateral crimes evidence was admitted at trial. Id. at 642. In addition to the issue relating…
Authorities Cited
- Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 1959)
- McLEAN v. State, 934 So. 2d 1248 (Fla. 2006)