5D00-2234 Espiet v. State

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State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D00-2234

Case Date: 06/11/2001

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JANUARY TERM 2001

JOSE ESPIET, Appellant, v. Case No. 5D00-2234 STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. /

Opinion filed June 11, 2001 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Marion County, David B. Eddy, Judge. James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Barbara C. Davis, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Belle B. Schumann, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

SAWAYA, J. Jose Espiet (Espiet) appeals his judgments and sentences imposed after the jury found him guilty of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and resisting a law enforcement officer without violence. Of the several issues Espiet raises, only three merit discussion and will be addressed in the following order: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying the motion for judgment of acquittal on the attempted second-degree murder charge; (2) whether the trial court erred in denying the motions for judgment of acquittal on the aggravated assault and resisting

counts; and (3) whether the trial court erred in including eighteen points on the scoresheet for the use of a firearm. This case demonstrates how perilous circumstances may befall overzealous law enforcement officers who attempt to apprehend a mentally disturbed man in his home without a warrant. Espiet, fifty-six years old, has a history of psychiatric problems. Espiet became enraged when Mildred, his wife of twenty years, related to him that the woman he had been having an affair with called on the telephone. Espiet grabbed a tie-down rope from a cabana, wound it around Mildred's neck, and attempted to strangle her. Espiet repeatedly stated that he was going to kill her and threatened to take her heart out and eat it. Fortunately for Mildred, she extricated herself from Espiet's noose and sought refuge in the home of her in-laws (Espiet's elderly parents lived across the street from Espiet and Mildred). Espiet pursued her there and continued his attack. He subsequently retreated to his house and barricaded himself inside. Law enforcement was summoned and deputies Englebright and Vowinkle arrived at the scene of the attack. They met with Mildred in the home of Espiet's parents and telephoned Espiet. Deputy Englebright informed Espiet that they could not leave until the matter was resolved. Espiet told Deputy Englebright that nothing happened, he just

wanted to be left alone, and requested that the deputies leave. He subsequently relented and told Deputy Englebright that although he would not come outside, he would speak to the deputy through the screened front window of his home. Deputy Englebright believed that he had probable cause to make an arrest for a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence. 2

Deputy Englebright and Espiet met at the front window of Espiet's home. When Espiet put his hands on the window sill, Deputy Englebright seized the opportunity: he lunged through the screened-in window, apparently making it only halfway through, grabbed Espiet by the arms, and attempted to pull him out. Meanwhile, Deputy Vowinkle rounded the corner of the house to the specter of Deputy Englebright's posterior hanging out of the window. Suddenly, she saw Deputy Englebright completely vanish (she

surmised at trial that instead of Deputy Englebright pulling Espiet out, Espiet pulled Deputy Englebright in). According to Deputy Englebright's testimony, he had no intention of entering the residence and did not even want to be inside the residence, but found himself inside anyway. 1 The two men ended up on the floor in the dining room. Espiet disappeared around a corner, but unfortunately for Deputy Englebright, he came back pointing a shotgun at the deputy, demanding that he leave. Instead of accepting Espiet's invitation to simply walk out, Deputy Englebright drew his own weapon and ducked towards the front door, only to find a chair wedged under the knob and the deadbolt locked with no key in it. Deputy Englebright and Espiet yelled at each other for several minutes before the situation reached a climax with each man mutually agreeing to lower his weapon. The two talked

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He testified that: I had no intent to be in the home. My intent was to solely grab a hold of his arms and attempt to get him to come outside the residence. When I grabbed a hold of him or went through the screen, I went past the point of no return, and I had to go on in because the majority of my body was inside. I couldn't back out. If I had been halfway through, I would have been out instead of in. 3

for several minutes before Deputy Englebright's sergeant told him to leave the home. While the drama was unfolding inside, the SWAT team arrived and negotiators were in place. After Deputy Englebright was out of the house, the team talked Espiet into coming out. He was arrested and taken into custody. As Espiet sat handcuffed in the back of a police car, he asked to see Mildred. She approached Espiet, battered and bruised. But when Espiet saw Mildred, he neither expressed concern for the injuries he inflicted on her nor displayed so much as a modicum of remorse for his attack on her. Amazingly (we say this mindful that Espiet has psychiatric problems), he instructed Mildred

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