FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

No reversals reported.

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

CLICK TO READ Don Plummer v. State of Florida, Docket # 1D18-1309

Order finding Defendant guilty of direct criminal contempt for filing fraudulent construction liens reversed.  Appellant filed construction liens on abandoned property filed by a corporation of which Appellant was president. Appellant admitted that the other houses, for which he had filed construction liens, were also abandoned, and he had made repair and done landscaping work on those without authorization from the property owner as well. Appellant stated that he thought he didn’t need an agreement with the property owners because “it was more of an acquiescence by default situation.”  The court stated that “what’s being done here is fraud, and there is just no two ways about it.” The court found Appellant in contempt of court for filing fraudulent liens on the property that was the subject of Appellant’s claim and on the property named in the liens the court had found through its own research.  the court’s finding of direct criminal contempt relied largely on filings that were not before the court, and the order was not based on misconduct committed in the court’s presence. The court’s summarily finding Appellant guilty of direct criminal contempt was improper.

CLICK TO READ Joseph Williams v. State of Florida, Docket # 1D18-661

Appeal from conviction of Tampering With A Witness in the Investigation of a First Degree Felony Punishable By Life, and State cross-appeal of downward departure sentence.  This case involves a purely legal question:  whether the witness-tampering statute, section 914.22(3) of the Florida Statutes, requires felony-level sentencing if the tampering occurred while a felony was charged and investigated, even if a jury later convicts of a lower-level crime.  The court denied Defendant’s appeal, and granted State’s appeal, reversing and remanding the sentence.

SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

CLICK TO READ Daniel Leon Heatley v. State of Florida, Docket # 2D16-4562

Heatley was convicted of first-degree arson and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. On the arson count, he was sentenced to life in prison as a habitual felony offender (HFO) with a thirty-year mandatory minimum term as a prison releasee reoffender (PRR). On the burglary count, he was sentenced to a concurrent thirty years in prison with a fifteen-year mandatory minimum term as a PRR.  Because the circuit court erred in declining to consider Heatley’s presentence investigation report (PSI) at a full de novo resentencing hearing, the Court reversed and remanded.

CLICK TO READ State of Florida v. Robert Lincoln, Docket # 2D19-508

State petition for writ of certiorari, challenging order denying State’s motion to offer Williams Rule evidence.  In a criminal case in which the defendant is charged with a crime involving child molestation, evidence of the defendant’s commission of other crimes, wrongs, or acts of child molestation is admissible and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant.  Petition granted.

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

No reversals reported.

FOURTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

No reversals reported.

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

CLICK TO READ Brenda Fay Yancy v. State of Florida, Docket # 5D18-3544

Case remitted back to trial court, record was insufficient to determine whether the trial court read the expert’s evaluation and made an independent determination of Yancy’s competency.

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

CLICK TO READ United States v. Rashica Shaguana Ford, Docket # 18-14128

Conviction for Conspiracy to Commit Arson, 18 U.S.C. § 844(i) and (n) reversed, new trial ordered.  Trial court improperly admitted a testifying witness’ prior statements as a prior recollection recorded pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 803(5).  The witness testified at trial she could not remember whether she made the statements, and did not know whether they were truthful when made.  Because those statements were the only direct evidence of guilt, the Government relied on them in summation, and the jury requested them during deliberations, a new trial was required.

CLICK TO READ United States v. Annamalai Annamalai, Docket # 15-11854

Reversal of convictions for Bankruptcy Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Bankruptcy Fraud, Money Laundering, and Conspiracy to Harbor a Fugitive, remanded for resentencing on remaining counts.  The Government failed to prove that the loss resulting from the bank fraud exceeded $400,00.00.  The bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy counts were not supported by legally sufficient evidence.