Case Name: Goldia KIMBLER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1978-06-16
Citations: 360 So. 2d 1270
Docket Number: No. FF-491
Parties: Goldia KIMBLER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: McCORD, C. J., and BOYER, J., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 360
Pages: 1270–1271

Head Matter:
Goldia KIMBLER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. FF-491.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
June 16, 1978.
On Rehearing July 26, 1978.
Louis G. Carres, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Raymond L. Marky, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

Opinion:
SMITH, Judge.
Kimbler appeals from her convictions of murder in the second degree and tampering with evidence. Joe Max Valdez died of an abdominal gunshot wound at appellant's home on the night of August 23, 1976, or early the next morning. The weapon was not found. He was last seen alive by testifying witnesses at 10 p. m. The medical evidence suggests he died no later than 2 a. m. Police arrived at 8:30 a. m. The convictions rest on incriminating inferences from circumstantial evidence. That evidence was insufficient to permit findings, beyond a reasonable doubt, of Kimbler's guilt. The evidence does not fairly exclude several hypotheses of her innocence which are suggested by the evidence or lack of it, and which the jury and trial judge were bound to regard. Davis v. State, 90 So.2d 629 (Fla.1956); Head v. State, 62 So.2d 41 (Fla.1952); Amato v. State, 296 So.2d 609 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). The incriminating extrajudicial testimony given by the witness Burr, with which the state attempted to impeach Burr when she failed to so testify as the court's witness, cannot be considered as competent evidence on the charge against appellant. Pitts v. State, 333 So.2d 109 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). Appellant's motion for new trial should have been granted. McArthur v. State, 351 So.2d 972 (Fla.1977). The convictions are REVERSED AND REMANDED.
McCORD, C. J., and BOYER, J., concur.