ROBERT JAY ROSADO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2012-02-17
No. 1D10-6317
CLARK and WETHERELL, JJ., concur.
79 So. 3d 931 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2012) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Robert Rosado appeals his armed robbery conviction, challenging the trial court's admission of evidence regarding a wholly unrelated home invasion robbery. The court found the collateral crime evidence was impermissibly introduced without proper notice, became a feature of the trial through repeated emphasis, and the State failed to prove harmlessness, warranting reversal.


Holding

The court reversed Rosado's conviction, finding the admission of collateral crime evidence constituted harmful error for three independent reasons: (1) the State improperly relied on impeachment doctrine to introduce prior crime evidence; (2) the court erroneously permitted extrinsic evidence of a collateral matter; and (3) the evidence became a feature of the trial through repeated emphasis in opening and closing arguments.


Headnotes

[1] A party may not use the law of impeachment to introduce impermissible prior crime evidence.

[2] A party is generally bound by a witness's answer on cross-examination regarding a collateral matter and may not introduce extrinsic evidence to contradict the witness on…

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Key Quotes

“the State may not rely on the law of impeachment to introduce impermissible prior crime evidence”

Establishes the primary legal principle that impeachment doctrine cannot be used as a vehicle to introduce collateral crimes.

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Facts & Procedural History

At trial, Rosado testified about a previous "incident." The State argued this referred to a home invasion robbery and used Rosado's testimony as an op…

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Opinion of the Court
WOLF, J.

WOLF, J.

Robert Rosado challenges his conviction for armed robbery. The issue is whether the trial court impermissibly allowed evidence of a totally unrelated home invasion robbery with little to no probative value to become a feature of the trial. We find harmful error and reverse.

At trial, the State was allowed to introduce evidence of a dissimilar home invasion robbery without first filing a notice of intent to introduce collateral crime evidence. During direct examination, appellant stated he was involved in a previous “incident.” The State argued this “incident” was a home invasion, and appellant’s testimony opened the door to evidence concerning the invasion. The court agreed and permitted the State to ask appellant specifics about the collateral crime, and to impeach appellant with his alleged confession to the collateral crime. The State further highlighted the unrelated collateral crime by calling an officer in rebuttal to testify that appellant had, in fact, confessed to the crime.

These actions by the State and the trial court require reversal for three reasons. First, the State may not rely on the law of impeachment to introduce impermissible prior crime evidence. See Robertson v. State, 829 So.2d 901, 913 (Fla.2002). Second, the trial court compounded the error by allowing the State to present extrinsic evidence of a collateral matter. See, e.g., Wilson v. State, 72 So.3d 331, 334 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (stating that “‘if a party cross-examines a witness concerning a collateral matter, the cross-examiner must ‘take’ the answer, is bound by it, and may not subsequently impeach the witness by introducing extrinsic evidence to contradict the witness on that point’ ” unless the collateral extrinsic evidence sought to be introduced concerns matters testified to by the witness on direct examination) (quoting Correia v. State, 654 So.2d 952, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)). Third, the manner in which the evidence was highlighted, combined with the fact that the evidence was argued in both the opening statement and the closing argument, rendered the evidence a feature of the trial. The State’s use of the evidence “ ‘transcended] the bounds of relevancy to the charge being tried’ and the prosecution ‘devolve[d] from development of facts pertinent to the main issue of guilt or innocence into an assault on the character of the defendant.’ ” Peterson v. State, 2 So.3d 146, 155 (Fla.2009) (quoting Conde v. State, 860 So.2d 930, 945 (Fla.2003)). We have recently reemphasized that collateral crime evidence must not become a feature of the trial. See Thompson v. State, 76 So.3d 1050 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011).

In addition, if an appellant establishes error in the admission of inherently *933prejudicial evidence, the burden shifts to the State to show that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Dortch v. State, 63 So.3d 904, 907 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011). As noted above, “[b]ecause of its prejudicial nature, ‘[ejrroneous admission of evidence of collateral crimes is presumed harmful.’ ” Sinclair v. State, 50 So.3d 1223, 1226 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (quoting Smith v. State, 743 So.2d 141, 144 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)). The State has failed to meet its burden.

We, therefore, REVERSE and REMAND for a new trial.

CLARK and WETHERELL, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • McCUIN v. State, 198 So. 3d 1066 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …he pi'oseeutor’s comments about the wallet constituted “classic collateral crime evidence.” Dortch, 63 So. 3d at 907. “Because of its prejudicial nature, ‘[ejrroneous admission of evidence of collateral crimes is presumed harmful’ ” Rosado v. State, 79 So. 3d 931, 933 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (quoting Sinclair v. State, 50 So. 3d 1223, 1226 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)). The error cannot be deemed harmless. Under the harmless error test, the State bears the burden of establishing “beyond a reasonable doubt that the error…

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