JOSEPH DONALD CLAIR, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the trial court's failure to conduct a proper Richardson inquiry into the effect of a discovery violation, after the state failed to disclose the substance of an oral statement, requires reversal and remand for a new trial.
[1] A trial court must conduct a full and adequate inquiry into all surrounding circumstances to determine if a discovery violation resulted in prejudice or harm to the defen…
[2] The state bears the burden of demonstrating to the trial court that a discovery violation did not result in prejudice to the defendant.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant appealed his conviction, arguing the trial court erred by admitting testimony about an oral statement he made, which the state failed to…
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FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr., Judge.
Appellant, Joseph Donald Clair, appeals from an order withholding adjudication of guilt and placing him on one year probation for culpable negligence, five years probation for aggravated assault and one year probation for leaving the scene of an accident.
At the trial, counsel for appellant objected to the admission of testimony regarding an oral statement given by appellant to the witness. The failure of the state to disclose the substance of the statement pursuant to demand for discovery was the basis for the objection. Appellant contends that it was reversible error for the court not to conduct a Richardson1 inquiry.
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220(a)(l)(iii) provides as follows:
(1) After the filing of the indictment or information, within fifteen days after written demand by the defendant, the prosecutor shall disclose to defense counsel and permit him to inspect, copy, test and photograph, the following information and material within the state’s possession or control:
* * * * * *
(iii) Any written or recorded statement and the substance of any oral statements made by the accused and known to the prosecutor, together with the name and address of each witness to the statement.
Violation of a rule of procedure does not call for reversal of a conviction unless the record discloses that non-compliance with the rule resulted in prejudice or harm to the defendant. Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla.1971). The state has the burden of showing to the trial court that there was no prejudice to the defendant. Cumbie v. State, 345 So. 2d 1061 (Fla.1977). The trial court has discretion to determine whether non-compliance resulted in harm or prejudice to the defendant but this discretion can only be exercised after the court has made a full and adequate inquiry into all of the surrounding circumstances. Richardson at 775; Cumbie at 1062.2 The trial court’s inquiry should ascertain whether the state’s violation was trivial or substantial, inadvertent or willful, and the effect, if any, it had upon the defendant’s ability to prepare for trial. Wilcox v. State, 367 So. 2d 1020 (Fla.1979). As stated in Wilcox, the trial court’s obligation is two-fold: first to determine whether the discovery violation prevented the defendant from properly preparing for trial, and if so, what sanction is appropriate. Wilcox at 1023.3
The trial court overruled the objection at the time it was made because de fense counsel had failed to specifically ask for the statement. Defense counsel made a demand for all items discoverable under rule 3.220(a)(1). This demand included oral statements under subparagraph (iii). Thus, the state was under a duty to disclose the substance of any oral statement along with the names and addresses of any witnesses to the statements. This the state did not do; in fact, the state answered “no” with regard to any oral or written statements made by appellant.4
No inquiry as to the effect of the discovery violation was conducted until appellant renewed his motion for mistrial at the close of the case. At that point, however, argument was limited to the question whether oral statements made to witnesses other than police officers or investigators were discoverable. The trial judge erroneously concluded that only statements made to police officers or made as part of the “res gestae” were discoverable, see, McClellan v. State, 359 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Bell v. State, 327 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976), and hence he did not address any of the concerns outlined in Richardson. In view of the failure to conduct a proper Richardson inquiry into the effect of the discovery violation, the order withholding adjudication of guilt and placing appellant on probation must be reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial. See Cumbie at 1062. See also Smith v. State, 372 So. 2d 86 (Fla.1979) (Post-trial evidentiary hearing not sufficient to remedy Richardson breach.)
REVERSED and REMANDED.
ORFINGER and COBB, JJ., concur. . Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla.1971).
. In addition, without a Richardson inquiry, the trial court is not in a position to make an informed judgment as to appropriate remedies for the state’s violation.
.Appropriate sanctions under Rule 3.220(j) range from an order to comply, to exclusion of evidence, or the granting of a mistrial.
. The answer to demand for discovery, however, indicates that the state did acknowledge the existence of “written, recorded and/or oral statements of accused.” In any event, the substance of any oral statement and the names and addresses of any witnesses to the statement were not disclosed as required by rule 3.220(a)(l)(iii).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Smith v. State, 500 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 1986)…0); Leeman v. State, 357 So. 2d 703, 705 (Fla.1978) (violation of Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.220); Richardson, 246 So. 2d at 774 (violation of Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.220); State v. Bruno, 107 So. 2d 9, 15 (Fla.1958) (vaguely worded charging document); Clair v. State, 406 So. 2d 109, 110 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981) (violation of Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.220); Miller v. State, 373 So. 2d 377, 378 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) (violation of Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.220); Cannon v. State, 317 So. 2d 459, 460 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975) (violation of Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.170(j));…
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Hinton McClure Waters v. State, 486 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)…the alleged statement to attack appellant’s credibility in closing arguments. The trial court did not make an adequate Richardson inquiry as to whether the discovery violation was [*616] willful, inadvertent, trivial or substantial. Clair v. State, 406 So. 2d 109 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). We agree with appellant that this was error. During the trial the prosecutor improperly cross-examined the appellant as to appellant’s prior conviction of a felony and whether as a convicted felon appellant knew he was not perm…
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Wortman v. State, 472 So. 2d 762 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)…s resulted in prejudice to the defendant. In the absence of such a hearing, reversal is mandated. See Smith v. State, 372 So. 2d 86 (Fla.1979); Wilcox v. State, 367 So. 2d 1020 (Fla.1979); Cumbie v. State, 345 So. 2d 1061 (Fla.1977); Clair v. State, 406 So. 2d 109 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); State v. Snell, 391 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). The Sired and Mobley cases relied upon by the state actually support the appellant. In those cases, the name of a witness, which had been provided to the defense via a pretria…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1971)
- Cumbie v. State, 345 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 1977)
- Smith v. State, 372 So. 2d 86 (Fla. 1979)
- Cooper v. State, 367 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1979)
- Wilcox v. State, 367 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1979)
- McCLELLAN v. State, 359 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)
- Central Bell and Freddy Leggett v. State, 327 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976)