LYNN EMORY ROSS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1959-05-14
No. 58-670
HORTON and PEARSON, JJ., concur., CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and HORTON and PEARSON, JJ., concur.
112 So. 2d 69 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1959) Caution
Cited by 30 cases

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Synopsis

Lynn Emory Ross was convicted of assault in a lewd and lascivious manner on an 11-year-old girl under Florida law. The appellate court affirmed the conviction but remanded for resentencing because the trial court imposed an unlawful sentence under county jail confinement instead of state prison as required by the Child Molester Act.


Holding

The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, that the testimony of similar conduct was properly admitted to show motive, intent, and absence of mistake, and that the sentence to county jail was unlawful because the later-enacted Child Molester Act supersedes the earlier statute and requires imprisonment in state prison at Raiford, not county jail.


Key Quotes

“Testimony of the latter to the effect that appellant had fondled her in a lewd and lascivious manner was presented by the state to show the character of the deed as to motive, intent and absence of mistake, for which it was relevant and admissible”

Establishes the proper basis for admitting evidence of similar conduct toward another victim to demonstrate motive, intent, and absence of mistake

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Facts & Procedural History

A 56-year-old appellant was charged with and tried for lewd and lascivious assault on an 11-year-old girl. The state also presented testimony from ano…

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Opinion of the Court
CARROLL, CHAS., Chief Judge.

CARROLL, CHAS., Chief Judge.

Appellant was informed against and charged with the prescribed crime of assault in a lewd and lascivious manner on a girl under 14 years of age.1 The offense, covered by § 800.04, Fla.Stat., F.S.A.,2 is included as an offense under the later en*70acted Child Molester Act, chapter 801, Fla. Stat., F.S.A.3

Appellant was tried in the Criminal Court of Record of Dade County, without a jury, adjudged guilty and sentenced to be confined for the period of one year in the county jail. This appeal followed.

Counsel for appellant argued two points: first, that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction, and second, that the court was in error in allowing the state to produce evidence of similar conduct toward another young girl on an earlier occasion.

On reviewing the evidence it is found to he sufficient to support the judgment. We refrain from needless recitation of the facts of this case, which concerned the 56 year old appellant and an 11 year old girl.

We hold against the contentions of appellant regarding the testimony of the other girl who at the time or times involved was 10 or 11 years old. Testimony of the latter to the effect that appellant had fondled her in a lewd and lascivious manner was presented by the state to show the character of the deed as to motive, intent and absence of mistake, for which it was relevant and admissible, under Talley v. State, 160 Fla. 593, 36 So.2d 201; and Williams v. State, Fla.1959, 110 So.2d 654.

As authorized under rule 6.16, Florida Appellate Rules, 31 F.S.A., we hold on the authority of Buchanan v. State, Fla.App.1959, 111 So.2d 51, that the sentence of confinement in the county jail was not a lawful sentence. The provision for sentence as contained in § 800.04, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., which authorized imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail, is superseded by the penalty provisions for such crime as provided for in the later enacted Child Molester Act (ch. 26843, Laws of Florida, 1951, as amended, now appearing as ch. 801, Fla.Stat., F.S.A.), under which, if imprisonment is ordered, it is directed to be served in the state prison at Raiford (§ 801.03(1) (a)). See Buchanan v. State, supra.

Accordingly, the judgment appealed from is affirmed; but the cause is remanded with directions that the sentence be revised to conform to the provisions therefor as set out in § 801.03, Fla.Stat., F.S.A.4

Affirmed; and remanded with direction for resentencing.

HORTON and PEARSON, JJ., concur.

On Petition for Rehearing.

PER CURIAM.

In a petition for rehearing the appellant suggests that this court failed to consider the time element involved, in holding that evidence of a similar act was relevant and admissible. Appellant contends the record shows that such prior act was some two years before the offense charged in this case, which took place in May of 1958.

The point thus suggested by appellant was not overlooked. Our holding that the evidence of the prior act or offense was relevant included a determination of essential temporal propinquity. While the record *71may permit conclusion that the earlier occasion of fondling the other girl was as much as two years before the date of the offense involved here, counsel for the defendant on cross examining the girl established that the defendant engaged in such conduct with her on a continuing series of occasions, the last of which was said by her to have taken place as late as November of 19S7, approximately six months prior to the offense charged here.

We adhere to our conclusion that the evidence in question met the test of relevancy giving it admissibility under the decisions cited.

The petition for rehearing is denied.

CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and HORTON and PEARSON, JJ., concur.

Other
PER CURIAM.

On Petition for Rehearing.

PER CURIAM.

In a petition for rehearing the appellant suggests that this court failed to consider the time element involved, in holding that evidence of a similar act was relevant and admissible. Appellant contends the record shows that such prior act was some two years before the offense charged in this case, which took place in May of 1958.

The point thus suggested by appellant was not overlooked. Our holding that the evidence of the prior act or offense was relevant included a determination of essential temporal propinquity. While the record may permit conclusion that the earlier occasion of fondling the other girl was as much as two years before the date of the offense involved here, counsel for the defendant on cross examining the girl established that the defendant engaged in such conduct with her on a continuing series of occasions, the last of which was said by her to have taken place as late as November of 19S7, approximately six months prior to the offense charged here.

We adhere to our conclusion that the evidence in question met the test of relevancy giving it admissibility under the decisions cited.

The petition for rehearing is denied.

CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and HORTON and PEARSON, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By (15 total)

  • Cotita v. State, 381 So. 2d 1146 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
    …. 2d at 670): “[W]e find the testimony of the victim and her sister regarding prior similar conduct on the part of the defendant with 'them to show the character of the deed as to motive and intent to be relevant and admissible.” In Ross v. State, 112 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1959), the court affirmed a conviction of lewd and lascivious assault against an eleven-year-old girl, and the admissibility of testimony that defendant had committed a similar offense against a similar victim, holding (112 So. 2d at 7…
    1 / 2
  • Coler v. State, 418 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1982)
    …of other sexual offenses; just as any evidence tending to prove guilt, may serve to prove defendant’s bad character and be prejudicial. On the other hand, the evidence was relevant to show a state of mind or a pattern of criminality. Ross v. State, 112 So. 2d 69 (Fla.3d DCA 1959), was a prosecution for assault, in a lewd and lascivious manner on a girl under fourteen years of age. In affirming the conviction, the court said: We hold against the contentions of appellant regarding the testimony of the other…
  • Jackson Holloway Hooper v. State, 115 So. 2d 769 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)
    …because it relates to similar facts which point to the commission of a separate crime, but because the similar fact evidence is inadmissible due to a lack of relevancy. Cf. Mackiewicz v. State, Fla.1959, 114 So. 2d 684; Ross v. State, Fla.App.1959, 112 So. 2d 69. We therefore hold the court erred in admitting the confessions into evidence, and the conviction of the defendant based upon these confessions must be set aside. The cause is remanded with directions to the trial judge to grant to the accused a ne…

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