GREGORY TYRONE ANDERSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Gregory Tyrone Anderson was convicted of sexual battery and appealed, arguing the trial court abused its discretion by preventing cross-examination impeachment of the victim regarding what clothing she wore during the alleged assault. The First District Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that questioning about clothing was collateral impeachment and potentially implicated Florida's Rape Shield Law.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing the impeachment because questioning about clothing was impeachment on a collateral matter. The type of clothing was not relevant to Anderson's guilt or innocence, did not reflect on the victim's bias or credibility, and could implicate Florida's Rape Shield Law.
[1] A trial court's ruling on the admissibility of evidence will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion.
[2] Impeachment by contradiction is improper when the issue is collateral, meaning it cannot be introduced for any reason other than contradiction.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“An issue is collateral for purposes of impeachment by contradiction, if it cannot be introduced for any reason other than contradiction.”
Establishes the legal standard for determining whether a matter is collateral and therefore ineligible for impeachment by contradiction.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAnderson and the victim were friends who knew each other for years. On the morning in question, the victim visited Anderson's apartment, and both lay …
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Gregory Tyrone Anderson challenges his conviction for sexual battery by arguing that the trial court abused its discretion by preventing defense counsel from impeaching the victim’s testimony about *647the type of clothing she was wearing at the time of offense. Because this would have been improper impeachment on a collateral matter, we affirm.
Anderson and the victim were friends for a number of years prior to this incident. On the morning in question, the victim agreed to visit Anderson’s apartment. Anderson and the victim lay down on Anderson’s bed, and the victim testified that Anderson forced her to have sexual intercourse with him. The victim testified during her deposition that she was wearing jogging clothes at the time of the attack. At trial during cross-examination, defense counsel asked the victim “And you were actually dressed in pajamas. Correct?” The victim denied wearing pajamas. Defense counsel then asked the court to allow her to display to the jury the clothing that the victim was wearing at the time of the offense to impeach the victim’s statement that she was not wearing pajamas. Outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel showed the proposed exhibit to the victim, the victim identified the items as being the clothing that she wore, and the victim asserted that they were not pajamas. The trial court sustained the State’s objection because it found that the line of questioning was impeachment on a collateral matter. The jury ultimately found Anderson guilty of sexual battery. Anderson asserts that the trial court should have permitted the impeachment of the victim with regard to the type of clothing she wore at the time of the incident. We disagree.
The trial court’s ruling on the admissibility of evidence will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. McCray v. State, 919 So.2d 647, 649 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006). Section 90.608(5), Florida Statutes (2011), provides that a witness’s credibility may be attacked by “[p]roof by other witnesses that material facts are not as testified to by the witness being impeached.” (Emphasis added). “An issue is collateral for purposes of impeachment by contradiction, if it cannot be introduced for any reason other than contradiction.” Griffin v. State, 827 So.2d 1098, 1099 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (citing Lawson v. State, 651 So.2d 718, 715 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)). “Two types of evidence pass this test: (1) facts relevant to a particular issue; and (2) facts which discredit a witness by pointing out the witnesses] bias, corruption, or lack of competency.’ ” Foster v. State, 869 So.2d 743, 745 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (quoting Lawson, 651 So.2d at 715).
The trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to allow defense counsel to impeach the victim with regard to the type of clothing she was wearing at the time of the incident. This line of questioning was an attempt to impeach the victim on a collateral matter because defense counsel was seeking only to contradict the victim’s assertion that she was wearing jogging clothes, rather than pajamas. This evidence was not relevant to any issue in the case as it did not reflect on Anderson’s guilt or innocence. Moreover, the victim’s alleged false characterization of her clothing did not show bias, corruption, or lack of competency as a witness. Further, we agree with the trial court that allowing questions with regard to the victim’s clothing at the time of the incident may imper-missibly venture into areas prohibited by the Rape Shield Law.1
Accordingly, we find no abuse of discretion by the trial court in refusing to allow *648defense counsel to impeach the victim on this issue.
AFFIRMED.
MARSTILLER and RAY, JJ., concur.
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Macomber v. State, 254 So. 3d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)
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Jakubowski v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't of Corr. (Duval County) (M.D. Fla. 2025)…ef."). For example, in a sexual battery case, evidence that contradicts the victim's testimony about what clothes she was wearing at the time the defendant attacked her is collateral and therefore inadmissible. See Anderson v. State, 133 So. 3d 646, 647 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (“This line of questioning was an attempt to impeach the victim on a collateral matter because defense counsel was seeking only to contradict the victim's assertion that she was wearing jogging clothes, r…
Authorities Cited
- McCRAY v. State, 919 So. 2d 647 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)
- Foster v. State, 869 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
- Shalonda Griffin v. State, 827 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
- Cooper v. The Honorable Mark A. Speiser, 651 So. 2d 718 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)