JOSEPH PHELPS, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Joseph Phelps was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm in the 1996 shooting death of Miami grocery store owner Louinas Lucas, based largely on testimony from an accomplice given 15 years after the crime. On appeal, Phelps challenged the trial court's acceptance of a peremptory challenge of a juror, the admission of evidence regarding his possession of a gun, and hearsay testimony about a hospital admission for a gunshot wound, but the appellate court affirmed his conviction.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in accepting the peremptory challenge based on the race-neutral reason of age and inexperience, nor did it abuse its discretion in admitting Merelus's testimony regarding the gun or the detective's testimony about the hospital admission, as any hearsay error was harmless.
[1] A peremptory challenge based on a juror's age and inexperience is a race-neutral reason for striking the juror.
[2] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by admitting testimony about a defendant's possession of a weapon similar to the one used in a crime, and the defendant's brag…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The trial court did not abuse its discretion by accepting, as genuine, the State's age-and-experience-based, race-neutral reason for striking the juror.”
Establishes that age and inexperience constitute valid, race-neutral grounds for peremptory challenges when properly documented.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1996, Louinas Lucas, a Miami grocery store owner, was shot and killed during an armed robbery while carrying home his day's receipts. In 2011, Dona…
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Eighteen years after the murder of Louinas Lucas, a Miami grocery store owner, Joseph Phelps was convicted of first degree murder and attempted robbery with- a firearm. Louinas Lucas had closed his store for the night and was carrying home the day’s receipts when he was shot in his front yard during an arrhed robbery. In 2011, an accomplice to the murder, Donald Merelus, who had been arrested and convicted'after the crime had occurred in 1996, gave a statement to police from prison incriminating Phelps. Based on Merelus’s statement, a grand jury indicted Phelps and, after a four-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts. Phelps raises three primary issues on appeal. We address each in turn,
First, Phelps argues that the trial court erred by accepting the State’s peremptory challenge of a twenty-four-year-old, unmarried, African-American juror by failing to give a genuine, race-neutral reason for striking the juror, Melbourne v. State, 679 So.2d 759, 764 (Fla. 1996). The State asserted that ’ the juror was "too young and inexperienced to serve on this jury. In support of a race-neutral justification, the State points out that the youngest *1133juror was a married, twenty-seven-year-old, African-American woman with children. We agree that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by accepting, as genuine, the State’s age-and-experience-based, race-neutral reason for striking the juror. Cobb v. State, 825 So.2d 1080, 1086 (Fla. 4th D.CA 2002); see also Saffold v. State, 911 So.2d 255, 256 (Fla. 3d DCA. 2005) (holding that peremptory challenge based on the age and experience of a juror was race-neutral).
Phelps next argues that the trial court abused its discretion by allowing Merelus, a friend of Phelps for some three years prior to the crime, to testify that Merelus had seen Phelps with a gun a month prior to the crime; and that Phelps had bragged to Merelus that Phelps’s favorite gun was a .357 Magnum, which was the type of gun used to shoot Louinas Lucas. The trial court determined both that the testimony was relevant and that its probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect. On this record, we are unable to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing this testimony. Holloway v. State, 114 So.3d 296, 297 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (holding that an “adequate nexus” between ammunition found in defendant’s home and ammunition for the type of weapon used in a' crime established relevancy and probative value).
Finally, Phelps argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting certain testimony of an investigating detective as to conversations the detective had regarding Phelps’s admission to a hospital for a gunshot wound at or near the time of the crime. While the State admits that aspects of these out-of-court conversations constitute inadmissible hearsay, on this record we are persuaded that any error in introducing this evidence is harmless. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129, 1135 (Fla. 1986) (“Application of the [harmless error] test requires an examination of the entire record by the appellate court including a close examination of the permissible evidence on which the jury could have legitimately relied, and in addition an even closer examination of the • impermissible evidence which might have possibly influenced the jury verdict.”); Hunter v. State, 174 So.3d 1011, 1016 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015); Lee v. State, 869 So.2d 1251, 1252-53 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004),
Affirmed.1
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Phelps v. State, 317 So. 3d 1207 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021)…constituted deficient performance of appellate counsel, and that Phelps was prejudiced by this failure. We agree, grant the petition, vacate the judgment and sentence, and remand this cause to the trial court for a new trial. 2 Phelps v. State, 232 So. 3d 1131 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017). ---PAGE 4--- A petition for writ of habeas corpus is recognized as “the proper vehicle to advance claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel,” Rutherford v. Moore, 774 So. 2d 637, 643 (Fla. 2000), and the requirem…
Authorities Cited
- State v. DiGUILIO, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1986)
- Jeanie H. Melbourne v. State, 679 So. 2d 759 (Fla. 1996)
- Tush-ee Lewis Hunter v. State, 174 So. 3d 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)
- Katracy Dawson v. State, 825 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
- Cobb v. State, 825 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
- Holloway v. State, 114 So. 3d 296 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
- LEE v. State, 869 So. 2d 1251 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)
- Saffold v. State, 911 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)