5D03-1906 Brent Huck v. State

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State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D03-1906

Case Date: 07/12/2004

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JULY TERM 2004

BRENT ROBERT HUCK, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. ___________________________________/ Opinion filed July 16, 2004 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, David Dugan, Judge. Gregory W. Eisenmenger and Robert R. Berry of Eisenmenger, Berry & Peters, Melbourne, for Appellant. Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kellie A. Nielan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. MONACO, J. Brent Robert Huck appeals his convictions for the kidnapping and felony murder of his former girlfriend, Misty Morse. The felony murder is based on the kidnapping. While Mr. Huck raises numerous issues on appeal, we conclude that none merit reversal of his judgment and sentence, and therefore, we affirm. There are, however, a number of issues brought to our attention by Mr. Huck that warrant discussion. I. FACTS. CASE NO. 5D03-1906

There was no eyewitness to the murder. The State's case was based entirely on

circumstantial evidence. Nevertheless, the evidence adduced both establishes each element of the offenses charged, and excludes each reasonable hypothesis of innocence advanced by Mr. Huck. See Pagan v. State, 830 So. 2d 792, 803 (Fla. 2002); Orme v. State, 677 So. 2d 258 (Fla. 1996). In view of the finding of guilt by the jury, the description of the evidence that follows is given from the perspective of the State. Shortly after midnight on July 20, 2000, the victim's mother heard the victim showering and drying her hair in preparation for going out. She later heard the victim's phone ring twice and heard her talking on the phone. The victim left the house, and told her mother that she would see her in the morning. The victim's mother left for work at about 3:00 a.m., and would never see her daughter alive again. The records for the victim's cell phone reflected that on July 20 she received a twominute call from Mr. Huck at 1:58 a.m., and a second one-minute call from Mr. Huck at 2:23 a.m. No other calls were successfully made to or from the victim's phone. Later on July 20, Bobby Cooper, who had recently started dating the victim, unsuccessfully tried on a number of occasions to reach her by cell phone. Her mother also tried, but failed to reach her on July 21. On July 23, 2000, the nude body of the victim was found in the Indian River near the shoreline of a residence. The victim's hands and feet were bound together with white rope that bore an unusual double-diamond pattern. Two broken plastic bags were attached to her feet by a length of spline.1 The victim had white duct tape on her head and neck. The medical

1

Black flexible rubber cord of the type used to install screens. 2

examiner was unable to determine the exact time of death. Because of the condition of the body, he testified that the death could have occurred at any time between the early morning hours of July 20th and the time the body was found. Mr. Huck, who was the former boyfriend of the victim, gave a taped statement to the police on July 26, 2000, that was eventually published to the jury. In summary, Mr. Huck said in his statement that he met the victim about a year and a half prior to her death. They dated for a while, but broke up because, according to Mr. Huck, the victim slept with his roommate. Although they were no longer a couple, Mr. Huck continued to have sex with the victim, most recently on July 11, 2000, nine days before she disappeared. Mr. Huck indicated that the victim did not have any unusual sex habits, and did not like atypical sex, including choking or similar activities, during sex. He confirmed that he spoke to her by phone in the early morning hours of July 20th. He had been drinking with friends earlier that night when he was told by a friend that the victim was telling people that she was pregnant with Mr. Huck's child. Mr. Huck's statement indicates that when he talked to her on the phone, he told her: [L]ook, what the hell is going on? I saw you and your (sic) not pregnant, why do I keep hearing this, you have really ruined my life. His recorded statement later explained: AGENT: So, you bitched to her about the pregnancy? MR. HUCK: Yeah - - just that it was still coming up - - flat out why - I have my girlfriend, I've been cheating on my girlfriend with her, and my girlfriend comes up spends the weekends on me - with me. ... MR. HUCK: I told her, you know my girlfriend comes to town 3

every weekend and we go out to the bars. I've been dating her over nine months, and this is not going to go, you know, if rumor of this gets out - - this is not gonna go. Mr. Huck related in his recorded statement that he was with his fianc

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