Carl Dausch, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The Court held that the State failed to present competent substantial evidence identifying Dausch as the person who murdered Mobley. Although fingerprints and DNA evidence placed Dausch in or near Mobley’s vehicle, the evidence remained consistent with Dausch’s hypothesis that he hitchhiked with someone who already possessed the vehicle and therefore did not establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court reversed and vacated the convictions and sentences and remanded for entry of a judgment of acquittal. POLSTON, C.J., dissenting, would have upheld the sufficiency of the evidence but ordered a new trial because of the exclusion of evidence concerning Dausch’s suicide attempt.