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Flanders v. State

Defense counsel opened the door to the detective's testimony that the murder weapon did not fire accidentally, when counsel stated in his opening that the detective believed the shooting was accidental.

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Arkee Sheriff Flanders was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, in connection with the shooting death of Jessica Tower.1 On appeal, Flanders asserts, inter alia, that the trial court gave an improper charge on malice murder allowing the jury to infer intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon. We agree that the charge was erroneous, however, we hold that the error was harmless. We find no reversible error in Flanders’ other contentions. Construed to support the verdict, the evidence showed that Jessica Tower was shot in the head at close range with a .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol while she was sitting alone in her car in the early morning hours. The car lurched forward and subsequently crashed into a nearby building where the police later found it.

Flanders, an ex-boyfriend of Jessica’s sister, Erica Tower, was a suspect in a theft of money from Jessica’s residence three weeks earlier. On that occasion, after a fight between Flanders and Erica at the Towers’ home, Flanders entered Jessica’s car and stole $377 from her purse. Jessica called the police and made a full report of the theft, and the police questioned Flanders about the stolen money. Flanders initially denied knowledge of the theft, but later admitted taking the money.

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