JORGE MINERVINO NAVARRO, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1972-05-30
No. 71-1224
Before BARKDULL, C. J., and PEARSON and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
262 So. 2d 729 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1972) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

The evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict of guilty for second-degree murder.


Headnotes

[1] Circumstantial evidence is sufficient to support a criminal conviction if it is consistent with the defendant's guilt and inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of i…

[2] A jury is entitled to weigh the credibility of conflicting evidence and inferences, including those related to the path of a bullet.

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Facts & Procedural History

The appellant was convicted of second-degree murder based on circumstantial evidence, including witness identification placing him at the scene and ev…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant was charged by information, tried by a jury, and found guilty of second degree murder. He was sentenced to twenty years in the state penitentiary. On this appeal he argues that the evidence was insufficient. We have examined the record in the light of the briefs and hold that the evidence is sufficient to support the verdict.

The appellant contends that the evidence against him is circumstantial in that no one actually saw him aim the revolver and fire the shot. He further argues that he has presented two reasonable hypotheses of innocence. The first assumes that the fatal shot could have come from another car on the roadway at the same time and near the place of appellant’s car. The second theorizes that the shot could have been fired by a sniper from a nearby motel.

The appellant was identified and placed at the scene of the shooting by witnesses who recognized him by the clothing he wore. He later admitted his presence there. After his initial denial, it was proved that appellant possessed a pistol prior to the time of the shooting. He denied having a pistol at the scene of the crime and said that he had lost it in the Everglades. There was eye witness testimony as to a traffic incident and heated quarreling between the appellant and the deceased a few minutes before the shooting. The deceased was heard to scream at the time of the shot, “Shoot — conyo 1 shoot.”

Appellant raised certain implications concerning the path of the bullet through the body of the deceased and into the truck in which decedent was riding. , The value of these inferences was for the jury and was properly decided by them. In our opinion, the case presented by the State sufficiently explains the path of the bullet.

The law applicable in cases such as this one has been articulated by the Supreme Court of Florida in Davis v. State, Fla.1956, 90 So.2d 629. In that case, the Court stated:

% ‡ ^ *
“When the State relies upon purely circumstantial evidence to convict an accused, we have always required that such evidence must not only be consistent with the defendant’s guilt but it must also be inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Head v. State, Fla.1952, 62 So.2d 41; Mayo v. State, Fla.1954, 71 So.2d 899.
“Evidence which furnishes nothing stronger than a suspicion, even though it would tend to justify the suspicion that the defendant committed the crime, it [sic] is not sufficient to sustain conviction. It is the actual exclusion of the hypothesis of innocence which clothes circumstantial evidence with the force of *731proof sufficient to convict.” (Emphasis supplied)
* * * ❖ *

A person charged with a crime may be convicted solely on the basis of circumstantial evidence. Lowe v. State, 90 Fla. 255, 105 So. 829 (1925); Trimble v. State, Fla.App.1958, 102 So.2d 738. In the case at bar, the jury was entitled to conclude that the circumstantial evidence was consistent with defendant’s guilt and inconsistent with every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. In Trimble, supra, the defendant was tried by jury and found guilty of manslaughter. The State’s case was based on circumstantial evidence. In affirming the judgment, the court stated:

******
“It is this last opinion evidence which appellant claims raises a reasonable hypothesis that another automobile actually struck the deceased and caused the fatal injuries, and that if appellant struck the decedent it was after she had already been knocked down by another automobile. The appellant argues that since such a reasonable hypothesis exists, he should have been exonerated in that the law in Florida as stated in Savage v. State, 152 Fla. 367, 11 So.2d 778, is to the effect that the State may prove the guilt of the accused by circumstantial evidence, but, where the evidence relied upon for conviction is entirely circumstantial, the law requires that such evidence, as a whole, must be so strong, cogent, and convincing as to exclude any reasonable hypothesis, except that of the defendant’s guilt.
“While we recognize the rule as stated in Savage v. State, supra, we hold that the evidence here met that standard. See Lopez v. State, Fla.1953, 66 So.2d 807. It is not necessary to sustain a jury’s verdict in a manslaughter conviction that the State present an eyewitness to the actual striking of the blow.”
(Emphasis supplied)
>¡< >¡< % ‡ ‡

See McBride v. State, Fla.App.1966, 191 So.2d 70; also see State v. Williams, 183 Neb. 257, 159 N.W.2d 549 (1968); State v. Thompson, 101 Ariz. 38, 415 P.2d 566 (1966).

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Ryan v. State, 457 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)
    …actual possession of the cocaine or the weapons, she was tried as an aider and abettor. The evidence used to convict appellant was purely circumstantial. We do not deny that a conviction can stand on circumstantial evidence alone. Navarro v. State, 262 So. 2d 729 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972). Instead, we point out that in a close case, such as the one at hand, particularly careful attention must be given to improper prosecutorial comments. Thompson v. State, 318 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975), cert. denied, 333 So. 2d…
  • Jones v. State, 466 So. 2d 301 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …gree murder conviction upheld); Miller v. State, 270 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972), cert, denied, 275 So. 2d 16 (Fla.1973) (state’s evidence deemed sufficient to link de [*326] fendant to a purse snatch; robbery conviction upheld); Navarro v. State, 262 So. 2d 729 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972) (state’s evidence deemed sufficient to establish that defendant shot the deceased; second degree murder conviction upheld); Hall v. State, 248 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971) (state’s evidence deemed sufficient to link defendant to…
  • Borders v. State, 312 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
    …n in which an agreement was made but that circumstantial evidence of a conspiracy is sufficient for conviction. We agree. A person charged with a crime may be convicted solely on the basis of circumstantial evidence. Navarro v. State, Fla.App.1972, 262 So. 2d 729, 731. See also Williams v. State, 1917, 73 Fla. 1198, 75 So. 785, 788, and Chason v. State, 1941, 148 Fla. 540, 4 So. 2d 691. Proof of a formal agreement is not necessary to establish the existence of a conspiracy. United States v. Amato, 5th Cir. 1…

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