JERRY WAYNE RUSSELL AND SALLY TUCKER JOLLY, APPELLANTS,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1977-09-23
No. 76-1446
BOARDMAN, C. J., HOBSON and OTT, JJ., concur.
349 So. 2d 1224 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1977) Caution
Cited by 28 cases

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Synopsis

Russell and Jolly were convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and grand larceny. The appellate court reversed all convictions for Russell and reversed Jolly's robbery and larceny convictions, finding that the admission of Jolly's extrajudicial confession violated Russell's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation and that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the robbery and larceny charges due to a defective indictment.


Holding

1) Admission of Jolly's confession against Russell violated the Confrontation Clause and was improper, requiring reversal of Russell's robbery conviction and, by extension, his murder conviction due to felony murder instructions. 2) The trial court lacked in personam jurisdiction over the robbery and grand larceny charges where the indictment failed to name the defendants in those counts, and only a grand jury may amend an indictment, not a trial court.


Headnotes

[1] A co-defendant's confession that incriminates another co-defendant is inadmissible when the confessing co-defendant does not testify at trial, even with a limiting instru…

[2] A defendant may move to suppress a portion of a confession that incriminates them, even if the remainder of the confession is admitted into evidence.

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Key Quotes

“evidence of the confession of one co-defendant which incriminates a second co-defendant may not be admitted where the confessing co-defendant does not testify even if the court instructs the jury to disregard the confession in determining guilt or innocence of the second co-defendant”

Establishes the core holding that Bruton violations require reversal regardless of jury instructions

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Facts & Procedural History

Russell and Jolly were tried together and convicted by jury on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, and grand larceny. Mrs. Jolly made a confessio…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The appellants, Jerry Wayne Russell and Sally Tucker Jolly, were charged by indictment with: Count I, first degree murder; Count II, robbery; and Count III, grand larceny. They were tried together and convicted by a jury on all three counts and sentenced to: Count I, life imprisonment with credit for time served; Count II, 15 years to run consecutively with Count I; and Count III, one year in county jail to run concurrent with any other sentences.

On this appeal appellant Russell raises the question of whether it was error for the trial judge to admit into evidence a confession by Mrs. Jolly which served to incriminate him, when Mrs. Jolly did not testify at trial. Both appellants raise the question of whether it was error for the trial judge to allow the indictment by which the appellants were charged to be amended to add appellants’ names to the robbery and grand larceny counts. For the reasons set forth below, we find it necessary to reverse appellant Russell’s conviction on all counts, to reverse appellant Jolly’s conviction on the robbery and grand larceny counts, and to remand the cause for a new trial on those counts.

At trial, Russell’s counsel objected to the admission of one sentence in a confession which Mrs. Jolly had made. The sentence was the only evidence which directly linked him with the robbery. The trial judge refused to delete the sentence, and the entire confession was read to the jury. Mrs. Jolly did not testify at any time during the proceedings.

The trial judge’s refusal to delete the sentence was error because evidence of the confession of one co-defendant which incriminates a second co-defendant may not be admitted where the confessing co-defendant does not testify even if the court instructs the jury to disregard the confession in determining guilt or innocence of the second co-defendant. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968); Seidel v. State, 240 So. 2d 521 (Fla.4th DCA 1970).

We cannot agree with appellee’s argument that the appellant should not be able to suppress the harmful part of a confession and then allow the rest of it into evidence. Clearly, if a defendant is allowed to suppress an entire confession he should be able to suppress a portion of it. After all, the State need not introduce the confession if it finds that a deletion alters its meaning or usefulness.

The error committed by the trial court was prejudicial to the appellant Russell since the confession was the only direct evidence linking him to the robbery. Moreover, although the evidence of the confession was only damaging on the charge of robbery, since the trial court instructed the jury on felony murder, we must also reverse appellant Russell’s conviction for murder. Both appellants raise another point which requires the reversal of their convictions for robbery and grand larceny. The indictment under which appellants were charged consisted of three counts. Appellants’ names were left out of the counts concerning robbery and grand larceny. In effect, then, they were not charged with either robbery or grand larceny and the Circuit Court had no in personam jurisdiction to try them for these crimes. Chow Bing Kew v. United States, 248 F. 2d 466 (9th Cir. 1957). The trial judge attempted to remedy this error at the beginning of appellants’ trial by allowing the prosecutor to amend the indictment. This move was clearly improper and requires reversal since only a grand jury may handle the amendment of an indictment. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.140(j); Pickeron v. State, 94 Fla. 268, 113 So. 707 (1927).

Appellant Russell’s judgments and sentences are reversed on all three counts and appellant Jolly’s judgments and sentences are reversed on Counts II and III. The case is remanded to the Circuit Court for a new trial.

BOARDMAN, C. J., HOBSON and OTT, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By (12 total)

  • Desmond v. State, 576 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991)
    …ding that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over him because he was not named in the body of the charging document. The trial court entered an order denying the motion, from which order this appeal is taken. Desmond relies on Russell v. State, 349 So. 2d 1224 (Fla.2d DCA 1977), for support of his position that the trial court’s lack of personal jurisdiction over him now requires his discharge. In Russell, the names of the defendants were omitted from two counts of a multi-count indictment. The omission w…
  • Tingley v. State, 549 So. 2d 649 (Fla. 1989)
    …ndictment. We find conflict with Pickeron v. State, 94 Fla. 268, 113 So. 707 (1927); Dickson v. State, 20 Fla. 800 (1884); Phelan v. State, 448 So. 2d 1256 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Perez v. State, 371 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); and Russell v. State, 349 So. 2d 1224 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). We have jurisdiction. Art V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed „ below, we approve the district court’s decision'. We hold that time is not a substantive part of a charging document and that our present discovery r…
    1 / 2
  • State v. Theron Black, 385 So. 2d 1372 (Fla. 1980)
    …ourse, precludes such amendments, as only a grand jury can amend an indictment with regard to matters of substance such as venue. Pickeron v. State, 94 Fla. 268, 113 So. 707 (1927); Perez v. State, 371 So. 2d 714 (Fla.2d DCA 1979); Russell v. State, 349 So. 2d 1224 (Fla.2d DCA 1977). This rule is embodied implicitly in Rule 3.140(j) of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides for the amendment of informa-tions but makes no mention of indictments.5 While our rule is in accordance with that of the…

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