Opinion ID: 1684899
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasonable Probability of Acquittal or Lesser Sentence

Text: The rationale with regard to the admissibility of the test results is also applicable with regard to the analysis of whether the DNA evidence would have given rise to the reasonable probability that Overton would have been exonerated or received a lesser sentence had the evidence been introduced during trial. Florida courts have repeatedly denied motions for the DNA testing of hair where the time and manner in which the hair was deposited at the crime scene or on a piece of evidence is unknown. See King v. State, 808 So.2d 1237 (Fla. 2002) (upholding the trial court's finding that the defendant could not meet the requisite showing that DNA testing of hair would give rise to a reasonable probability that he would be acquitted or receive a reduced sentence because it was impossible to determine when, where, or how hair transferred to the victim's nightgown); see also Hitchcock, 866 So.2d 23 (affirming the trial court's denial of the motion for DNA testing of hairs where the defendant, victim, and person that the defendant alleged was the perpetrator all lived in the same home; hairs from all three would have been deposited throughout the home; and proof that the hair was not the defendant's would not establish that the defendant was not at the crime scene or did not commit the murder); Tompkins v. State, 872 So.2d 230 (Fla.2003) (affirming the trial court's denial of the motion for DNA testing of hairs because the hairs were unreliably contaminated due to the location of the victim's remains in a shallow grave); Galloway v. State, 802 So.2d 1173 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) (affirming the trial court's denial of the motion for DNA testing because a mere allegation that the DNA of the defendant would not match DNA evidence was insufficient to establish that the defendant was not present and a coparticipant in the crime). Overton's attempt to distinguish this precedent is unavailing. He contends that, unlike King, in which the hair was found on a victim who crawled from a burning bedroom and was later dragged out of her burning house, the hair on the tape bindings here was found on a person who was bound and immobilized inside her home and the hair adhered to the tape during the binding. Even assuming that the hair did attach to the tape during the binding, Overton, like King, cannot satisfy the statutory requirement that the testing of the hair would give rise to a reasonable probability that he would be acquitted or receive a lesser sentence because there is no way to determine when, why, where, or how the hair was deposited in the MacIvor residence. Overton argues that because, unlike Galloway, the State here did not assert or prove that there were multiple perpetrators, DNA testing of the hair would prove that there was an additional participant in the sexual battery and murder of Susan, which would give rise to the reasonable probability that Overton would have received a reduced sentence. However, contrary to this assertion, the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Galloway was based on the fact that even if testing of the evidence obtained from the crime scene demonstrated that the DNA did not match the defendant, it would not prove that the defendant was not present at the crime scene or a participant in the crime. See Galloway, 802 So.2d at 1175 (citing People v. Pugh, 288 A.D.2d 634, 732 N.Y.S.2d 673, 674 (N.Y.App.Div.2001) ([U]pholding denial of postconviction DNA testing in single assailant rape case on grounds that `the absence of defendant's semen on the tested material . . . would not have exonerated or tended to exonerate defendant.')). Likewise, even if the testing of the hair here reveals it did not come from Overton or the victims, the results will not exonerate Overton or mitigate his sentence because such results would not prove that Overton was neither the perpetrator nor present at the crime scene. Overton asserts that there was no evidence other than the allegedly unreliable DNA test results that linked him to the crime in the instant case and that the trial court impermissibly relied on this evidence in denying the instant motion. However, the trial court based its determination that testing of the hair would be inconsequential to proving or disproving any material fact upon the impossibility of determining how, when, where, or why the hair was deposited in the MacIvors' residence. [22] Moreover, and contrary to Overton's argument, this Court has already acknowledged the importance of the direct testimony in linking Overton to the crime, which is completely independent of DNA testing. See Overton, 801 So.2d at 899. Based on the foregoing, the trial court correctly found that the rule 3.853 motion failed to assert a reasonable probability that the requested testing would exonerate Overton or lessen his sentence.