JOHN J. MCGOFF, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1984-05-23
No. 83-1476
OTT, C.J., and LEHAN, J., concur.
450 So. 2d 321 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

John McGoff appeals his conviction for first degree murder and life sentence. The court reverses and remands for a new trial due to a change in Florida law regarding the admissibility of post-arrest silence in insanity defense cases.


Holding

Evidence of a defendant's post-arrest, post-Miranda silence and request for an attorney is not admissible to establish mental condition, even when insanity is the only defense raised, because such admission violates due process and the Florida Constitution.


Headnotes

[1] Decisional law in effect at the time an appeal is decided governs the disposition of the case.

[2] Evidence of a defendant's post-arrest, post-Miranda silence and request for an attorney is not admissible to establish his mental condition near the time of the offense,…

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Key Quotes

“silence in the face of an accusation of a crime is an enigma and should not be determinative of one's mental condition just as it is not determinative of one's guilt”

Establishes the core principle that post-arrest silence cannot reliably indicate mental state

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Facts & Procedural History

On December 8, 1981, McGoff was charged with first degree murder of Dr. Juan Ocana. McGoff raised an insanity defense at trial. After being arrested a…

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Opinion of the Court
SCHOONOVER, Judge.

SCHOONOVER, Judge.

The appellant, John J. McGoff, has appealed a judgment adjudicating him guilty of first degree murder and a sentence of life imprisonment. Due to a change in decisional law since the appellant’s trial, we must reverse-and remand for a new trial.

On December 8, 1981, appellant was charged with the first degree murder of Dr. Juan Ocana. Prior to trial appellant filed a notice of intention to rely on the defense of insanity, the only defense asserted during trial.

The trial court, relying on this court’s decision in Greenfield v. State, 337 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976), ruled that if sufficient evidence was presented to raise a reasonable doubt as to the appellant’s sanity, the burden of establishing sanity beyond a reasonable doubt would shift to the state. Moreover, the state could then submit evidence relating to the appellant’s insistence on his right to remain silent after being given his Miranda rights (Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)). Pursuant to the trial court’s ruling, evidence was introduced that after the appellant was arrested and read his Miranda rights, he stated he did not want to say anything and requested an attorney. Thereafter, the appellant was found guilty and upon entry of the judgment and sentence, he filed this timely appeal.

At the time of trial, the trial court’s ruling was in accordance with existing precedent. Greenfield. However, de-cisional law in effect at the time an appeal is decided governs the disposition of the case. Lowe v. Price, 437 So. 2d 142 (Fla.1983); Wheeler v. State, 344 So. 2d 244 (Fla.1977), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 924, 99 S.Ct. 1254, 59 L.Ed.2d 478 (1979). After the appellant’s trial, and during the pendency of this appeal, the Florida Supreme Court in State v. Burwick, 442 So. 2d 944 (Fla.1983), disapproved^ of this court’s holding in Greenfield. ln Burwick, the court held that silence in the face of an accusation of a crime is an enigma and should not be determinative of oné’s mental condition just as it is not determinative of one’s guilt. The court stated it is fundamentally unfair for the state to lure an accused into remaining silent and then impeach him with this very same silence. To allow the state to benefit from the fruits of its deception would violate the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment and article I, section 9 of the Florida Constitution.

Accordingly, the court held that even if the only defense raised is insanity, evidence of a defendant’s post-arrest, post-Miranda silence, and request for an attorney, is not admissible to establish his mental condition near the time of the offense.

Therefore, because Burwick effectively overrules Greenfield, we must reverse and remand for new trial.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

OTT, C.J., and LEHAN, J., concur.


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Cited By

  • Marrero v. State, 493 So. 2d 463 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …disposition of this case is in accordance with the now prevailing law on entrapment, as established in State v. Cruz. See Wheeler v. State, 344 So. 2d 244 (Fla.1977), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 924, 99 S.Ct. 1254, 59 L.Ed.2d 478 (1979); McGoff v. State, 450 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); McIntire v. State, 381 So. 2d 1154 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). Applying the relevant threshold test of entrapment to the facts developed in the record before us, we conclude that the police activity leading to Marrero’s arrest “has ove…

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