Opinion ID: 1090533
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Newly Discovered Evidence from Jack Pearcy and Oza Shaw

Text: In his third issue, Dailey raises two claims. First, he argues that a 1993 sworn statement by Jack Pearcy constitutes newly discovered evidence. The trial court ruled that Pearcy's statement was uncorroborated hearsay which failed to qualify as a statement against interest. The trial court did not admit the statement into evidence. The criteria for evaluating whether a hearsay statement is against a declarant's interest were set forth in Lightbourne v. State, 644 So.2d 54 (Fla. 1994): [A statement is against the declarant's interest if] at the time of its making, [it] was so far contrary to the defendant's pecuniary or proprietary interest or tended to subject him to liability or to render invalid a claim by him against another so that a person in the defendant's position would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true. A statement tending to expose the declarant to criminal liability and offered to exculpate the accused is inadmissible, unless corroborating circumstances show the trustworthiness of the statement. Id. at 57 (quoting § 90.804(2)(c), Fla. Stat. (1991)). As the trial court noted, at no point in the statement does Pearcy admit to the murder of Shelley Boggio or the commission of any other crime. Pearcy has had numerous opportunities to testify on Dailey's behalf, and has repeatedly declined to do so. We affirm the trial court's evidentiary ruling. Dailey also asserts that during the evidentiary hearing, Shaw recanted his trial testimony and provided a new sequence of events that would likely lead to an acquittal on retrial. Specifically, Shaw stated that he now recalls witnessing Pearcy enter the house by himselfnot with Daileylate on the night of the murder. According to Shaw's most recent version of events, Pearcy entered the house alone, walked into Dailey's bedroom, woke him, and then the pair left the house together. This differs from Shaw's original trial testimony, when he stated that he saw Pearcy and Dailey entering the house together when he first woke up. The trial court found that Shaw's latest version of events was unreliable and that his evidentiary hearing testimony would be unlikely to produce an acquittal on retrial. A trial court's decision on a claim of recantation evidence will not be overturned on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. See Consalvo v. State, 937 So.2d 555, 562 (Fla.2006) ([A]bsent an abuse of discretion, a trial court's decision on a motion based solely on newly discovered evidence [including a witness's newly recanted testimony] will not be overturned on appeal.); cert. denied, ___ U.S. ____, 127 S.Ct. 1821, 167 L.Ed.2d 330 (2007). Because recantation testimony entails a determination as to the credibility of the witness, this Court `will not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court on issues of credibility' so long as the decision is supported by competent, substantial evidence. Marquard v. State, 850 So.2d 417, 424 (Fla.2002) (quoting Johnson v. State, 769 So.2d 990, 1000 (Fla.2000)); see also Robinson v. State, 865 So.2d 1259, 1262 (Fla.2004) (The trial court has made a fact-based determination that the recantation is not credible. In light of conflicting evidence, we must give deference to that determination.). Furthermore, [o]nly when it appears that, on a new trial, the witness's testimony will change to such an extent as to render probable a different verdict will a new trial be granted. Marquard, 850 So.2d at 424 (quoting Armstrong v. State, 642 So.2d 730, 735 (Fla. 1994)). We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that Shaw's testimony at the evidentiary hearing was unreliable. Nearly twenty years had passed between the night of the murder and Shaw's appearance at the evidentiary hearing. We agree that Shaw's recollection of events at the time of trial is more likely to be accurate. Furthermore, even accepting Shaw's most recent version of events, the statements are not such that they would probably produce an acquittal on retrial. There remains evidence that Dailey and Pearcy returned to the house together later that night, that Dailey was not wearing his shirt, that his pants were wet, and that the victim was found in the water. There is also testimony from three inmates that Dailey confessed to the killing. The trial court's denial of this claim was proper.