Opinion ID: 1711100
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Victim's Reputation for Peacefulness

Text: Peterka next asserts that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise as error the admission of evidence of Russell's reputation for peacefulness. Three witnesses, Kevin Trently, Deborah Trently, and Gary Johnson, testified at trial that Russell had a reputation for peacefulness. Trial counsel objected each time the State attempted to elicit this testimony. We conclude that the trial court erred in allowing evidence of Russell's reputation for peacefulness to be presented to the jury. However, we further conclude that this error was harmless and, therefore, that Peterka was not prejudiced by appellate counsel's failure to raise this issue on direct appeal. See Jones, 794 So.2d at 584. The admissibility of character evidence is governed by section 90.404, Florida Statutes (2003). Section 90.404(1)(b)(2) provides that evidence of a victim's character trait of peacefulness is admissible when offered by the prosecution in a homicide case to rebut evidence that the victim was the aggressor. In this case, the State elicited the testimony regarding Russell's reputation for peacefulness prior to its presentation of Peterka's statement that Russell initiated a physical confrontation. Thus, this evidence could not have been used to rebut evidence that Russell was the aggressor. Cf. Taylor v. State, 855 So.2d 1, 20 n. 21 (Fla.2003) ([A] victim-declarant's statements cannot be admitted during the State's case-in-chief to rebut evidence or testimony that has not been introduced by the defense.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 1605, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004). Further, Peterka's taped statement was introduced by the State, not by Peterka. In Stoll v. State, 762 So.2d 870, 875 (Fla.2000), we rejected the State's argument that a witness's testimony as to the victim's state of mind was relevant to rebut the defendant's taped statements introduced by the State in its case-in-chief. We held that the State may not introduce rebuttal evidence to explain or contradict evidence that the State itself offered. Id. We recognize that Stoll had not been decided at the time that Peterka's direct appeal was filed in 1990. However, the citation in Stoll to the Fourth District's 1988 decision in Brown v. State, 524 So.2d 730, 731 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988), indicates that this argument was one that appellate counsel should have been aware of at that time. Nevertheless, we do not decide whether this oversight renders counsel's performance deficient because we conclude that there was no prejudice. During its case-in-chief, the State also presented evidence that Russell did not intend to confront Peterka about the stolen money order because he was afraid of Peterka's gun and that Russell intended to let the police handle the matter. Appellate counsel raised the admission of this evidence as error on direct appeal but this Court held that there was no error in admitting this testimony. See Peterka, 640 So.2d at 69. Because the admissible evidence that Russell stated he was not going to confront Peterka is much stronger evidence that Russell did not initiate the altercation with Peterka than the evidence of Russell's reputation for peacefulness, the erroneous admission of Russell's reputation for peacefulness was harmless. Thus, Peterka cannot establish prejudice and is not entitled to relief on this claim.