STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
DAVID WAYNE DOUSE, WILLIAM LEWIN HAMILTON, DENNIS KENYON MACKO AND MICHAEL LEWIS, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1984-04-18
No. 83-788
DOWNEY, J., concurs., WALDEN, J., dissents with opinion.
448 So. 2d 1184 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1984) Caution
Cited by 20 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 State appeals a trial court order suppressing taped telephone conversations between defendant Douse and a police detective. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the suppression, holding that while the Sixth Amendment right to counsel had not federally attached, Florida's state constitution and criminal procedure rules provided greater protection by attaching the right to counsel at the defendant's first appearance, and the police violated this right by deliberately eliciting incriminating statements through surreptitious means.


Holding

The court affirmed the suppression order, holding that although the Sixth Amendment right to counsel had not federally attached, Florida law provided greater protection by attaching the right to counsel at the defendant's first appearance under the Florida Constitution Article I, Section 16 and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130. The police officer's conduct of deliberately eliciting incriminating statements through surreptitious means violated the defendant's state constitutional right to assistance of counsel.


Headnotes

[1] Under Florida law, the right to assistance of counsel attaches at least as early as the defendant's first appearance.

[2] Once the right to counsel has attached, police may not deliberately elicit incriminating statements from a defendant through surreptitious means.

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Key Quotes

“in this instance state law provides greater protection than its federal counterpart and, therefore, the case at bar should be adjudicated under principles of Florida law”

Establishes that the court will apply Florida constitutional law rather than federal constitutional law because it provides greater protection to the defendant.

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Facts & Procedural History

Two days after David Wayne Douse was arrested, a police officer posing as a friend of a codefendant telephoned Douse to obtain information relating to…

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Opinion of the Court
HURLEY, Judge.

HURLEY, Judge.

The State appeals from an order of the trial court suppressing taped telephone conversations between David Wayne Douse and a police detective. We affirm because the statements were deliberately elicited from the defendant by surreptitious means after his right to counsel attached under Florida law.

Two days after the defendant was arrested, but before the filing of an information against him, a police officer posing as a friend of a codefendant telephoned Douse in order to obtain information relating to the arrest. This call took place one day after the defendant’s first appearance, at which he was represented by retained counsel. We recognize that the defendant had no federal constitutional right to suppress the conversation because his Sixth Amendment right to counsel had not attached at the time the statements were elicited. See United States v. Henry, 447 U.S. 264, 100 S.Ct. 2183, 65 L.Ed.2d 115 (1980); Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964). Under the Sixth Amendment of the federal constitution, the accused’s right to counsel does not attach until “the initiation of adversary judicial criminal proceedings— whether by way of formal charge,' preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment.” Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 689, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 1882, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972); see also Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977). Nonetheless, we find that in this instance state law provides greater protection than its federal counterpart and, therefore, the case at bar should be adjudicated under principles of Florida law. See generally Brennan, State Constitutions and the Protection of Individual Rights, 90 Harv. L.Rev. 489 (1977).

Article I, Section 16 of the Florida Constitution guarantees the right to assistance of counsel in all criminal prosecutions. Rule 3.130, Fla.R.Crim.P., in turn, states that the right to assistance of counsel attaches at least as early as the defendant’s first appearance which should occur within twenty-four hours of arrest. Thus, in this case the incriminating statements made one-day after Douse’s first appearance were elicited after his right to counsel attached under'Florida law.

Once the right to counsel has attached, the police may not deliberately elicit incriminating statements from a defendant through surreptitious means. See United States v. Henry, supra; Massiah v. United States, supra. Yet, this is precisely what occurred in the case at bar. On the-day after the defendant appeared at first appearance with his retained lawyer, a police officer, posing as an acquaintance of a codefendant, telephoned the defendant at home and elicited incriminating statements. We therefore conclude that the police officer’s conduct violated Douse’s state consti-' tutional right to assistance of counsel, and consequently affirm the suppression order. DOWNEY, J., concurs.

WALDEN, J., dissents with opinion.

Dissent
WALDEN, Judge,

WALDEN, Judge,

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent because, in my opinion, there had not been , an initiation of adversary judicial proceedings at-the timé of the conversations in question. Thus, I do not find any violation of either the federal or state constitution.1

Moreover, I am unable to agree that here our state constitution provides greater protection to a defendant charged with a crime than-does the federal constitution.

. The sole appellate-point framed by Douse was: WHETHER THE DEFENDANT’S SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHT TO COUNSEL ATTACHES IN STATE COURT AT A MAGISTRATE’S FIRST APPEARANCE HEARING PURSUANT TO RULE 3.130(b), Fla.R.Crim.P?

The majority opinion, as reflected, decides this question adversely to Douse by saying that Douse had no federal constitutional right to suppress under the Sixth Amendment.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Traylor v. State, 596 So. 2d 957 (Fla. 1992)
    …arance); Traylor v. State, 498 So. 2d 1297 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (federal right had attached where information had been issued); Sobczak v. State, 462 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (state right attaches as early as first appearance); State v. Douse, 448 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (state right attaches as early as first appearance). . Johnson had just received the letter of appointment the day before, August 19. . Defense counsel at the suppression hearing prevented Johnson from being questioned concerni…
  • State v. Kelly, 999 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 2008)
    …those required by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of federal law. ... [WJithout [independent state law], the full realization of our liberties cannot be guaranteed.” (quoting Brennan, 90 Harv. L.Rev. at 491) (emphasis supplied)); State v. Douse, 448 So. 2d 1184, 1185 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (holding that the right to counsel attaches at an earlier point during the prosecutorial process under Florida law than under federal law). Moreover, this Court is the ultimate “arbiter[] of the meaning and extent of the sa…
  • Peoples v. State, 576 So. 2d 783 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991)
    …Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, had not yet occurred and was not yet required when the statements had been made. In noting that the defendant’s first appearance had not been made, the Delgadil-lo court avoided any conflict with State v. Douse, 448 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984). In Douse, the trial court suppressed a taped telephone conversation between the defendant and a police detective who attempted to obtain information relating to the arrest by posing as a friend of a co-defendant. The call took p…

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