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Thomas v. State11/3/2004
ounty crimes was error, it was harmless in this case. For support of its assertion of harmless error, the state notes that both Malta and Martineau testified on the details of the instant robbery; the un-rebutted testimony of co-defendants Fernander and Anthony established Thomas's participation in the instant robbery; the testimony of law enforcement officers involved in the pursuit showed that Thomas ran from the same car which sped away from the scene of the Broward County robbery. We disagree that this was harmless error.
Our court's decision in Griner v. State, 662 So.2d 758 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), supports the exclusion of the six Dade County crimes and requires a reversal and new trial. In Griner, two robberies were committed within a distance of approximately two blocks and occurred within a period of approximately twenty-two minutes. After the evidence was admitted at trial as Williams rule evidence, the state on appeal recognized that the evidence did not constitute similar fact evidence and argued to this Court that it was properly admissible as "inextricably intertwined" and/or "inseparable crime" evidence under Griffin v. State, supra.
In rejecting the state's contention on appeal and finding that the admission of this evidence could not be excused or condoned as harmless error, we held:
In the present case the facts of the first event were not "inextricably intertwined" with, or "necessary to adequately describe" the second event. The most we can say about the relationship between these two events is that one occurred very soon after the other, which is not sufficient to make the evidence regarding the first incident admissible under Griffin, particularly when we weigh the danger of unfair prejudice to defendant against the relevancy of the evidence (citations omitted). Nor can we say that the admission of this evidence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt under State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla.1986).
Griner, 662 So.2d at 759.
Likewise, the admission of six unrelated robberies in Dade County three hours prior to the crime at issue here can hardly be considered harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR A NEW TRIAL.
FARMER, C.J., and STEVENSON, J., concur.
FN1. The trial court did not delineate what she meant by "demeanor" but equated it with Gasana's "lack of participation or lack of response."
FN2. Williams v. State, 110 So.2d 654 (Fla.1959).
FN3. Section 90.402 states that "[a]ll relevant evidence is admissible, except as provided by law."
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