Opinion ID: 1949657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: remaining issues in guilt phase

Text: We find no merit in the remaining issues raised regarding the guilt phase of the trial. Amazon claims error in admitting testimony about a burglary from a neighbor's home some time before the murders. The murder weapon matched the description of a knife taken in the burglary, and evidence showed that Amazon had given his mother a set of knives matching the description of the stolen set shortly after the burglary. The evidence therefore tended to show Amazon had access to the murder weapon and carried it with him into the Chapin home, relevant to the question of premeditation. Amazon's claim that this was impermissible evidence of a collateral crime is groundless. Ruffin v. State, 397 So.2d 277 (Fla.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 882, 102 S.Ct. 368, 70 L.Ed.2d 194 (1981); Ashley v. State, 265 So.2d 685 (Fla. 1972). Likewise, Amazon's objection to the metallurgist's testimony regarding marks on a screen removed to gain entry into the Chapin home is meritless. Although the expert could not conclusively say the marks were made with the murder weapon, which would tend to prove that the killer took the knife into the home, he did testify that there was a high probability that the murder weapon made the marks, based on his expert knowledge. The testimony was probative evidence requiring specialized knowledge, and it was not error to admit the testimony over the argument that the lack of conclusiveness meant the jury was just as qualified as the expert to draw the conclusion from the physical evidence.