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Bowen v. State, 791 So.2d 44, 26 Fla. L. Weekly D1458

Facts

On May 19, 1998, Bernice Bowen's four-year-old son, Joey, was fatally shot in their Tampa apartment. Her live-in boyfriend, Hank Carr, was the alleged shooter. Following the incident, Bowen and Carr took Joey to a fire station, where he was pronounced dead. Carr fled the scene and later killed two police detectives and a highway patrol trooper. Bowen was charged as an accessory after the fact for her alleged assistance to Carr after these crimes, primarily for not disclosing his true identity to the police.

On May 19, 1998, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Ms. Bowen's son Joey sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his head while inside a Tampa apartment that Ms. Bowen shared with Hank Carr. At the time, Carr was the subject of outstanding marijuana trafficking charges in Ohio, and Ms. Bowen knew this.

Issue

Did the State provide sufficient evidence to support Bernice Bowen's convictions as an accessory after the fact to the manslaughter of her son and the murders of the police officers?

Did the State provide sufficient evidence to support Bernice Bowen's convictions as an accessory after the fact to the manslaughter of her son and the murders of the police officers?

Rule

To convict someone as an accessory after the fact, the State must prove that the defendant knew a felony had been committed, provided assistance to the principal with the intent to help them avoid detection or arrest, and was not related to the principal by blood or marriage.

Section 777.03(1), Florida Statutes (1997), defines the crime of accessory after the fact as follows: Any person not standing in the relation of husband or wife, parent or grandparent, child or grandchild, brother or sister, by consanguinity or affinity to the offender, who maintains or assists the principal or accessory before the fact, or gives the offender any other aid, knowing that the offender had committed a felony or been accessory thereto before the fact, with intent that the offender avoids or escapes detection, arrest, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the fact.

Analysis

The court analyzed the evidence presented by the State and concluded that it failed to establish that Bowen had actual knowledge of the manslaughter or the murders when she provided assistance to Carr. The court noted that while Bowen may have withheld information, the State did not prove that she had the requisite knowledge of the crimes at the time of her actions. Furthermore, the court found that the improper combination of charges prejudiced her defense.

We conclude that the State did present a prima facie case concerning the charges of accessory after the fact to escape and to the murder of the two detectives. However, a new trial is required on these charges because Ms. Bowen's defense for these charges was prejudiced by trying them together with the charge for accessory after the fact to manslaughter.

Conclusion

The court reversed Bowen's convictions for accessory after the fact to manslaughter and first-degree murder, and remanded for a new trial on the remaining charges, emphasizing the need for proper jury instructions.

We reverse.

Who won?

Bernice Bowen prevailed in her appeal because the court found that the State did not provide sufficient evidence to support her convictions and that she was prejudiced by the improper jury instructions.

Bernice Bowen prevailed in her appeal because the court found that the State did not provide sufficient evidence to support her convictions and that she was prejudiced by the improper jury instructions.

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