Case Name: Gerald W. HENRY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1999-08-20
Citations: 743 So. 2d 52
Docket Number: No. 97-1713
Parties: Gerald W. HENRY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: HARRIS, J., concurs and concurs specially with opinion.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 743
Pages: 52–58

Head Matter:
Gerald W. HENRY, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 97-1713.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Aug. 20, 1999.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 14, 1999.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Rosemarie Farrell, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Carmen F. Corrente, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

Opinion:
COBB, J.
The appellant, Gerald Henry, convicted of second degree murder, has filed a belated appeal seeking a new trial on the ground, inter alia, of prejudicial prosecu-torial excesses.
Henry was indicted for first degree murder as the result of shooting one James Berry in the back of the head outside of a bar at the end of Bike Week in Volusia County in 1994. At the time of the incident Berry was engaged in a verbal tirade directed at the proprietress of the bar, a Mrs. Tindell, and (according to the state's witnesses) was cursing and threatening her because she had refused him service. As Berry "went for" Mrs. Tindell outside of the bar he was shot. Henry testified that he was attempting to protect Tindell by striking Berry on the back of the head with a .45 pistol, which accidentally discharged.
A state's witness, one Charles Bagwell, testified that he was in the bar at the Embassy Lounge getting a drink when he noticed two men, including the victim, giving the proprietress, Mrs. Tindell, a "hard time across the bar, reaching for her trying to slap at her." The two men then tried to get through a pass-through behind the bar and were "cussing and raising Cain." Ms. Tindell forced the two men to leave, but they said they'd be back. Bag-well said that both men looked "dangerous," but that they left. Bagwell also testified that he thought the victim was on drugs, because he was so "mean." Bag-well approached Ms. Tindell, who was a friend, and the two of them walked out onto the porch since she was "shaking so bad she couldn't hardly stand up." Bag-well was just trying to "calm her down." As they stood on the back deck, the victim came up to the side of the deck near the step, without his friend. The victim "was cussing Ms. Tindell, calling her pretty bad names, raising Cain at her, and then came up on the deck still fussing and raising Cain." After raising "Cain" on the steps and on the deck, the victim "went for" Ms. Tindell. Bagwell testified that he was himself getting ready to intervene, since the victim "had his arms up reaching for her."
The prosecutor at trial, with no eviden-tiary support, referred to Henry as a killer who was out to establish his reputation with his biker club and suggested (falsely) that Henry was a member of the "Outlaws." He also referred to Henry as a cold-blooded killer, termed the latter's version of events (which was not contradicted by any state witness) as the "most ridiculous defense" he, the prosecutor, had ever heard, and expressed Ms personal belief in Henry's guilt.
Based upon the recent Florida Supreme Court opinion in Ruiz v. State, 24 Fla. L. Weekly S157, 743 So.2d 1 (Fla.1999), we reverse Henry's conviction, vacate his sentence, and remand for a new trial. See also, Kent v. State, 702 So.2d 265 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), rev. denied, 717 So.2d 533 (Fla.1998); Fuller v. State, 540 So.2d 182 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989).
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
HARRIS, J., concurs and concurs specially with opinion.
GRIFFIN, J., dissents with opinion.