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at 22 Fla. L. Weekly D2410a
BRYANT WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 97-544. L.T. Case No. 96-22036. Opinion filed September 17, 1997. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Victoria Platzer, Judge. Counsel: Leonard J. Cooperman, for appellant. Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Paulette Taylor, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee. (Before JORGENSON and SORONDO, JJ., and BARKDULL, Senior Judge.) (SORONDO, J.) Bryant Williams appeals the trial court's judgment of conviction and sentence for the crimes of burglary with assault (3 counts), aggravated stalking and simple battery (2 counts). Officer Lillian Hunter responded to a call and contacted Linda Davis and her son, Osami. When she arrived she observed that Davis had a large lump on her forehead and an injury to her breast. She was also very agitated and rambling. At that time Davis told the officer that her boyfriend, Williams, had entered her apartment and struck her on the forehead. She further stated that she had a domestic violence injunction against Williams and that earlier that day she had another fight with Williams during which he bit her breast. As has become lamentably common in cases of domestic violence, Davis' testimony before the jury was diametrically contrary to her undoubtedly more candid original statements to the police. She denied any wrongdoing by Williams, described his actions during the incidents in question as playful in nature or portrayed herself as the aggressor. Her son, Osami, also testified favorably for Williams and contrary to the statements he had made on a 911 tape during which he pleaded for police assistance because Williams was coming in through the apartment window. The state impeached both witnesses with their prior statements to the police. At the conclusion of the trial the only evidence the state had introduced establishing the defendant's guilt was the prior inconsistent statements of Davis and Osami. In Moore v. State, 485 So. 2d 1279 (Fla. 1986), the Supreme Court of Florida addressed the following question, certified as one of great public importance (as reworded by the Court):
Id. at 1281. The Court answered the question in the negative and went on to say that ``the risk of convicting an innocent accused is simply too great when the conviction is based entirely on prior inconsistent statements.'' Id. See also Joyce v. State, 664 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Santiago v. State, 652 So. 2d 485 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). In the absence of any substantive evidence of guilt beyond the prior inconsistent statements of the victim and her son, we are, regrettably, compelled to reverse and remand with instructions to discharge the defendant. Reversed and remanded.
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