Monday, October 4, 1999
State of Florida v. Bernard Evans

No. 94,673

Place of Origin: Dade County


Facts
Evans was convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of Thaddeus Scott and sentenced to 15 years in prison. At trial, a key state witness testified that the defendant stated the night before the shooting that he would kill Scott. The witness also testified that she actually saw the defendant shoot Scott. These aspects of the witness' testimony differed from both her initial police statement and her pretrial deposition testimony. On appeal, the Third District reversed for a new trial based on the prosecutor's failure to inform the defense about the witness' changed testimony.