RICHARD SHEPPARD, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Richard Sheppard, age 17, was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting a storekeeper. On appeal, he challenged the admission of his police statement, exclusion of a character witness, sufficiency of self-defense evidence, jury instructions, and the trial court's failure to make a specific finding of voluntariness. The appellate court affirmed the conviction.
The court affirmed the conviction on all grounds. The McDole requirement for a specific voluntariness finding did not apply because the statement was not a confession but a report claiming justified shooting. Sheppard's statement was admissible under Miranda because it was voluntarily given after rights advisement. The character witness was properly excluded as cumulative and discretionary. Self-defense evidence was insufficient as a matter of law, and the refused jury instruction presented no reversible error.
[1] A trial court is not required to make a separate finding of voluntariness for a statement to the police if the statement is not a confession and the sole ground for suppr…
[2] A statement made by a defendant to police is not rendered inadmissible under Miranda v. …
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“We hold that the McDole requirement is inapplicable in this case because (1) the statement to the police was not a confession but was a short report to the police accompanied by a statement that the shooting was justified at law”
Establishes that the trial court's failure to make a specific voluntariness finding was not error because the statement was not a confession.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSheppard was told to leave a grocery store and later returned and shot the storekeeper dead. He gave a statement to police the same day, with his moth…
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PER CURIAM.
The defendant, Richard Sheppard, was found guilty by - a jury of second degree murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. On this appeal he urges: (1) that the trial court did not make a specific finding of the voluntariness of his confession, (2) that a statement given by him to the police was improperly admitted into evidence, (3) that one of his character witnesses was improperly excluded from testifying, (4) that the evidence of self-defense was sufficient as a matter of law to require a judgment of acquittal, and (5) that the trial court erred in failing to give a requested instruction.
There is no dispute based on this record that Sheppard, a seventeen year old male, was told to leave the victim’s “The Friendly Food Market,” and that having left, he thereafter returned to the store and shot the storekeeper dead. The defense countered with Sheppard’s own testimony that when he returned to the store, the victim opened fire on him and he returned the fire in self-defense.
Sheppard’s statement to the police was made the same day as the shooting when he went with his mother to the police station. At that time, a full recital of his constitutional rights was read to him and his mother before he made a statement. Mrs. Sheppard testified that she told the officer that she intended to get a lawyer for her son and that he should not make a statement before she got one. Later, when separated from his mother, Sheppard made a statement identical to that made upon the stand. In this statement, he did not confess to a crime but reported the shooting as he and his mother intended. He stated that he had shot the storekeeper in self-defense.
The defendant moved to suppress his statement given to the police upon the ground that it was taken in violation of his right to counsel. His mother also alleged that his written and oral statements “were not freely and voluntarily given.” A hearing was held upon defendant’s motion to suppress. There was conflicting evidence as to whether defendant’s mother requested that the defendant make no statement until she had procured a lawyer for him. There was no evidence that the defendant did not voluntarily make the statement. The trial judge denied the motion to suppress. We find no error in the ruling.
The defendant claims error because the trial judge did not make a separate finding that the statement was voluntarily given as required by McDole v. State, Fla. 1973, 283 So. 2d 553. We hold that the McDole requirement is inapplicable in this case because (1) the statement to the police was not a confession but was a short report to the police accompanied by a statement that the shooting was justified at law,1 and (2) the only ground argued in the trial court was that the police had violated the defendant’s rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 10 A.L.R.3d 974 (1966).
The argument that the statement was inadmissible because of a violation of the Miranda holding is not supported by the record. The evidence is clear that after the explanation of defendant’s right not to make a statement until a lawyer was provided, Sheppard proceeded with the statement of his own free will. Cf. Brisbon v. State, Fla.App.1967, 201 So. 2d 832.
The record also shows that the witness who did not testify as to defendant’s character was subpoenaed as a possible material witness by the State for deposition and did not appear. When the witness did not appear, defense counsel stated that he would “try to get the witness in.” The statement as to the witness’s proposed testimony was that he would primarily be a character witness. The testimony would have been cumulative and the court was acting within its discretion in excluding the witness. See Holley v. State, 1925, 89 Fla. 70, 102 So. 829.
Our examination of the record convinces us that there is no error under appellant’s point (4) above. Finally, we find that appellant’s point (S) above does not present reversible error based upon this court’s opinion in Bolin v. State, Fla. App.1974, 297 So. 2d 317.
Affirmed.
. The substance of the statement is as follows :
“So the man looked out the door and he saw me so he say, ‘You’re back,’ and I said yes, like that. And I was fixing to leave and he reached up under the counter, grabbed his pistol and I grabbed mine, so we started exchanging fire.”
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Cited By
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Whipple v. State, 438 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)…truction on self-defense, considered in its entirety, was clear, comprehensive, and correct even though it omitted language as to the specific offense the victim was allegedly committing at the time he was killed by defendant. See Sheppard v. State, 322 So. 2d 628 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975), cert. denied, 336 So. 2d 603 (Fla.1976); Bolin v. State, 297 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 304 So. 2d 452 (Fla.1974). Affirmed.…
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Kelley v. State, 445 So. 2d 701 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in not admitting the proffered testimony which would have been cumulative. See Sheppard v. State, 322 So. 2d 628 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); Smith v. State, 320 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). HOBSON, A.C.J., and RYDER and LE-HAN, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (U.S. 1966)
- McDOLE v. State, 283 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 1973)
- Bolin v. State, 297 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Brisbon v. State, 201 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)
- Holley v. State, 89 Fla. 70 (Fla. 1925)