STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
DEBRA MORRIS PASTORIUS, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1982-09-22
No. 82-134
ANSTEAD, J., and OWEN, WILLIAM C., Jr., (Retired) Associate Judge, concur.
419 So. 2d 1137 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1982) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal of a drug delivery charge against Debra Morris Pastorius, holding that the undisputed facts were sufficient to establish a prima facie case of aiding and abetting in cannabis delivery based on her conduct in the transaction.


Holding

The undisputed facts were sufficient to establish a prima facie case. The trial court erred in granting the motion to dismiss because reasonable inferences could be drawn from appellees's conduct—asking whether to retrieve 'Tom' and then doing so—that she knowingly aided and abetted the drug transaction, making this a jury question rather than one for summary dismissal.


Headnotes

[1] A motion to dismiss under Rule 3.190(c)(4), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, requires the movant to allege undisputed material facts demonstrating that the facts do n…

[2] If a motion to dismiss under Rule 3.190(c)(4) meets its initial burden, the state must traverse a specific material fact or allege new material facts to avoid dismissal.

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Key Quotes

“To be sufficient, a 3.190(c)(4) motion to dismiss must allege that the material facts of the case are undisputed, set out those facts, and demonstrate that the undisputed facts fail to establish a prima facie case (or that they affirmatively establish a valid defense).”

Establishes the legal standard for evaluating a motion to dismiss based on insufficiency of facts

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Facts & Procedural History

Police officers and co-defendant Bradley Pastorius (appellees's husband) met in a parking lot to discuss purchasing marijuana. Debra Pastorius remaine…

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Opinion of the Court
HERSEY, Judge.

HERSEY, Judge.

Debra Morris Pastorius was charged by Information with delivery of cannabis. She • filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 3.190(c)(4), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, on the basis that there were no disputed material facts and the undisputed facts did not establish a prima facie case of guilt.

Appellee’s motion alleged the following facts. Undercover police officers and co-defendant Bradley Pastorius, husband of appellee, met between their cars in a parking lot. The officers’ car was parked twenty feet from and on the driver’s side of the other automobile. The officers and Bradley Pastorius discussed the purchase of marijuana. The conversation was not loud. Appellee, Debra Pastorius, remained in the passenger seat of her car. During the conversation, appellee got out of her car and asked her husband “Should I go get Tom?” Bradley replied, “Yeah, go get Tom.” Ap-pellee then walked out of view. Shortly thereafter, a blue van drove up and parked beside the officers’ vehicle. Appellee exited the passenger’s side of the van and walked to her car. The driver of the van, co-defendant Thomas Bernardi, exited the vehicle, opened the sliding passenger door and showed police officers a large green nontransparent plastic bag located on the floor behind the passenger seat. The officers opened the bag and saw within it numerous smaller bags of marijuana. Bradley Pasto-rius, Bernardi, and appellee were then arrested.

The state filed a sworn traverse admitting the facts but claiming that it would “prove through circumstantial evidence that the defendant, Debra Pastorius, knew that she was aiding and abetting Bradley Pastorius and Thomas Bernardi in the delivery of cannabis.”

To be sufficient, a 3.190(c)(4) motion to dismiss must allege that the material facts of the case are undisputed, set out those facts, and demonstrate that the undisputed facts fail to establish a prima facie case (or that they affirmatively establish a valid defense). If the undisputed facts as alleged in the motion do not meet this burden, then a response from the state is unnecessary and the motion may be summarily denied. If, however, the allegations do meet the test, then the burden shifts to the state. Under the latter circumstance, in order to avoid the effect of the motion, the state must either traverse a specific material fact that is alleged in the motion or allege one or more material facts not contained in the motion. Ellis v. State, 346 So. 2d 1044 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977).

The state neither denied a specific fact in its traverse nor presented material facts not contained in the motion to dismiss. Accordingly, the state’s pleading has the effect of a demurrer, admitting that the facts alleged in appellee’s motion to dismiss are the undisputed material facts. The state’s position, then, must stand or fall on a determination of whether these undisputed facts establish a prima facie case.

When a court considers evidence on a 3.190(c)(4) motion, “all inferences are resolved against the defendant.” State v. Upton, 392 So. 2d 1013, 1015 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). Here, the evidence supports inferences that appellee knew of and willingly aided in the drug transaction. She inquired if it was necessary to get Tom and voluntarily performed that task. Appellee obviously knew that Tom was nearby and it can be inferred that she was aware of the necessity for Tom to remain out of sight until a certain point in time. The circumstances were indicative of a drug transaction and the part played in that transaction by appellee was a jury question.

The order granting the motion to dismiss is reversed and this cause is remanded for trial or other appropriate proceedings.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

ANSTEAD, J., and OWEN, WILLIAM C., Jr., (Retired) Associate Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Dalpathbhai N. Patel, 453 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)
    …ge’s yard stick, or that of the reviewing appellate panel’s majority. However, making such a measure is the duty and function of the court, whether it is in the context of a directed verdict, or in ruling on a (c)(4) motion.1 See State v. Pastorius, 419 So. 2d 1137 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). I agree with the majority that only a prima facie case need be shown by the state in the context of a (c)(4) motion. State v. Horne, 399 So. 2d 49 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). However, viewing the record in this case in the most damagin…
  • State v. Hart, 677 So. 2d 385 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …nt. See State v. West, 262 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972). The motion is decided only on the undisputed facts. In considering the evidence, the court must draw all inferences in favor of the state and against the defendant. E.g., State v. Pastorius, 419 So. 2d 1137, 1139 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). The trial court may neither weigh conflicting evidence nor pass on the credibility of witnesses nor determine disputed issues of fact. West, 262 So. 2d at 458. Motive and intent are states of mind usually inferred from the…
  • State v. Sammons, 889 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
    …f the crime charged. Kalogeropolous, 758 So. 2d at 111; Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.190(c)(4). If the motion itself is not sufficient to support a dismissal, a response from the State, is unnecessary and the motion may be summarily denied. State v. Pastorius, 419 So. 2d 1137, 1138 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); see also Brinkley, 874 So. 2d at 1202. [*859] If the motion shows that the facts relied on by the State fail to show a prima facie case of the crime charged, the burden thereupon shifts to the State to defeat the motion by…

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