RAUL MOLINA, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Molina appeals his armed burglary-robbery conviction, arguing that testimony from investigating officers regarding statements made by non-testifying co-defendants violated his right to confrontation. The court holds that such testimony constitutes hearsay when it creates an inescapable inference of the defendant's guilt, and reverses for a new trial.
The admission of such testimony was clearly erroneous. Where testimony creates an inescapable inference that a non-testifying witness has furnished police with evidence of the defendant's guilt, the testimony is hearsay and defeats the defendant's right of confrontation, regardless of whether the actual statements of the non-testifying witness are repeated. The fact that the absent witness is a co-defendant who does not testify at trial is inconsequential.
[1] Testimony that police arrested a defendant after interviewing co-defendants who did not testify is hearsay and violates the defendant's right of confrontation, even if th…
[2] The fact that the non-testifying witness who implicates a defendant is a co-defendant is inconsequential to the admissibility of the testimony.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“where, as in the present case, the inescapable inference from the testimony is that a non-testifying witness has furnished the police with evidence of the defendant's guilt, the testimony is hearsay, and the defendant's right of confrontation is defeated, notwithstanding that the actual statements made by the non-testifying witness are not repeated.”
Establishes the core legal principle that hearsay testimony violates confrontation rights even when the non-testifying witness's statements are not directly repeated, if their involvement in providing incriminating evidence is clearly implied.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMolina was arrested for armed burglary-robbery after police officers interviewed two co-defendants who were arrested for auto theft. The officers test…
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SCHWARTZ, Judge.
Molina appeals from his convictions in an armed burglary-robbery case. Over objection, the investigating police officers stated that, after interviewing two co-defendants who did not themselves testify, they arrested Molina and then placed his picture in a photo lineup for identification by the victim.1 As was held in the utterly indistinguishable and directly controlling case of Postell v. State, 398 So. 2d 851 (Fla.3d DCA 1981),2 the admission of this testimony was clearly erroneous. We reiterate the conclusion that where, as in the present case, the inescapable inference from the testimony is that a non-testifying witness has furnished the police with evidence of the defendant’s guilt, the testimony is hearsay, and the defendant’s right of confrontation is defeated, notwithstanding that the actual statements made by the non-testifying witness are not repeated.
398 So. 2d at 854. Furthermore, it is to be noted, as Postell, with welcome prescience, also specifically stated,
That the absent ‘witness’ [as in this case] happens to be a co-defendant who does not testify at trial is inconsequential. See also State v. Niesbbalski, 82 N.J.L. 177, 83 A. 179 (1912) (testimony that defendant was arrested upon information received from two co-defendants violated defendant’s right to confrontation where necessary inference was that co-defendants had implicated defendant); State v. Johnson, 538 S.W. 2d 73 (Mo.App.1976) (testimony that immediately after speaking to co-defendant, officer arrested defendant, ‘just as much hearsay and objectionable as the implicating statement itself would have been,’ deprived defendant of right of confrontation).
398 So. 2d at 855, n.8.
Finally, Postell is uncannily also disposi-tive as to the effect of the error in question. The only other evidence against Molina, as in Postell, was a severely challengeable eyewitness identification by the victim. Thus, as in Postell, 398 So. 2d at 856, we conclude that the admission of the hearsay testimony harmfully affected Molina’s trial and requires a new one.
Reversed and remanded.
. In'final argument the prosecutor emphasized the already obvious conclusion to be drawn from this series of events:
And I said, ‘Officer — Sergeant Love, what did you do after that discussion? Did you do anything?’
He did something after that discussion. He arrested Raul Molina for this armed robbery. Get the sequence of the investigation in your mind. Three people are arrested for auto theft. A discussion. Raul Molina gets arrested for this armed robbery, this burglary and this kidnapping.
In the arrest his picture is taken. His picture is taken and put in a group of pictures of similar young males. What happens?
* * * * * *
I ask you to look at one thing, please. Look at the way this case was solved; the course of the investigation: why that second line-up was put together and how it was put together; what it was a result of.
I think that will explain a lot of the unknowns in this case, [emphasis supplied]
. Postell was decided long after the trial in the case at bar.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (20 total)
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Hulsh v. Rea R. Hulsh, 431 So. 2d 658 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)…ss’s testimony is that the decedent made certain statements to the witness, the testimony is an oral communication within the Deadman’s Statute as much as when the witness testifies to the actual statements made by the decedent. Cf. Molina v. State, 406 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Postell v. State, 398 So. 2d 851 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (rule prohibiting hearsay violated notwithstanding that actual statements of de-clarant not repeated, where nature of statements can be readily inferred). . Because the trial c…
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Graham v. State, 479 So. 2d 824 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)…. We hold that the reference to the two nontestifying witnesses’ identification deprived appellant of a fair and impartial trial. Postell v. State, 398 So. 2d 851 (Fla. 3d DCA), petition for review denied, 411 So. 2d 384 (Fla.1981); Molina v. State, 406 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). Therefore, we reverse appellant s conviction and remand for a new trial. CAMPBELL and FRANK, JJ., concur.…
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Davis v. State, 493 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…s the identification testimony of the victim of the robbery, which identification was arguably impeached, in part, on cross examination. The evidentia-ry error here was therefore not a harmless error in the context of this case. See Molina v. State, 406 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). The final judgments of conviction and sentences under review are reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court for a new trial.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Postell v. State, 398 So. 2d 851 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)