TALLAHASSEE – The First District Court of Appeals Wednesday denied convicted murderer Dan Belc’s three-pronged appeal, leaving in place his conviction and Life sentence, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
State Attorney Larry Basford and Calhoun County Chief Prosecutor William Wright proved to a jury that Belc killed his wife, Judy, in 2018, shooting her multiple times at her family’s house in Blountstown. Belc had followed her after she left their home in Germany and decided to file for divorce. He was found guilty of First-Degree Murder and Aggravated Assault on Oct. 28, 2022. Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson sentenced him to Life in prison without parole.
The defendant, who represented himself at times after his arrest, appealed three related grounds:
- That the State improperly cross-examined him about pre-trial statements he made.
- That the Court erred in denying a motion for mistrial after the State asked him about those statements while he was on the stand.
- And that the Court erred in denying his motion to suppress statements he made to investigators that led them to a secondary crime scene.
In its opinion Wednesday, the DCA unanimously dismissed the appeal.
Belc’s first point of appeal was that his defense was prejudiced by the introduction at trial of his statements that he, “a foreigner” from Germany, could not get a fair trial in Calhoun County. He argued his conviction would have been impossible without jurors hearing those statements.
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But the justices noted, first, that the defense did not object to the questions about those statements at trial or move for a mistrial. Secondly, they said the evidence of premeditated murder “was particularly strong.”
“Belc admitted to shooting and killing his wife,” the opinion stated. “Belc had just purchased
and begun carrying a gun for the first time less than a week before shooting his wife, after learning of her plan to divorce him.”
On the second point regarding earlier statements Belc made about a plea, the justices ruled that Chief Judge Patterson correctly denied Belc’s request for a mistrial. They said it was Belc himself who introduced that evidence during his trial testimony when he testified “he had tried to plead guilty ‘many times’ to avoid trial.”
Finally, the justices ruled that the denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress also was proper. The opinion stated that while Belc “asked about an attorney,” he did not invoke his rights when specifically asked if he wanted an attorney present.
“But when given the choice of waiting for an attorney or immediately talking with investigators, Belc chose to continue talking,” the justices wrote.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.