THE STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
JOSEY WALES BALBOA, RESPONDENT
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The Florida District Court of Appeal granted the State's petition for certiorari and quashed an order prohibiting testimony from two witnesses whose tape-recorded statements were lost. The court held that while a Richardson hearing was required, the trial judge erred in refusing to consider the prosecutor's testimony at that hearing about the content of the missing tapes.
The trial judge may and should consider the prosecutor's testimony at an adversary Richardson hearing regarding the content of missing tapes. The appellate court's prior opinion only condemned reliance on the prosecutor's representations as a substitute for the required Richardson hearing, not reliance on such testimony when properly presented at an adversary hearing.
[1] A prior appellate ruling reversing a conviction for failure to hold a Richardson hearing does not preclude the trial court from considering the prosecutor's representatio…
[2] A trial court must conduct a Richardson hearing when the State fails to furnish the defendant with discoverable tape-recorded statements of witnesses.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Reliance upon the prosecutor's representations concerning the tapes was there condemned only because those representations were received as a substitute for the required Richardson hearing.”
Clarifies that the prior opinion did not absolutely prohibit reliance on the prosecutor's statements, only when used as a substitute for an adversary hearing.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe State failed to furnish the defendant with tape-recorded statements of witnesses Dennis Lambert and Robert Underwood. After the case was remanded …
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DANIEL S. PEARSON, Judge.
The State’s petition for writ of certiorari is granted, and the order prohibiting the State from presenting the testimony of witnesses Dennis Lambert and Robert Underwood is quashed.
In an earlier appearance of this case, this court reversed the defendant’s conviction upon a holding that the State’s failure to furnish the defendant with tape recorded statements of these witnesses triggered the necessity for a Richardson hearing, and, none having been held, reversal was required. See Balboa v. State, 446 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). This court’s opinion pointed out, without further explanation, that the trial judge “relied upon representations by the prosecutor concerning the content of the tapes.” 446 So. 2d at 1135.
After the case was remanded, it was learned that the tape recordings could not be found. The trial judge accordingly conducted a Richardson hearing at which the prosecuting attorney testified that the loss of the tapes was inadvertent and “that the statements of witnesses recorded on said tapes was no different than testimony given on depositions or at trial by the same witnesses.” Although the prosecutor’s undisputed testimony may have persuaded the trial judge that the defendant suffered no prejudice from the discovery violation, the trial judge believed that this court’s earlier opinion precluded him from relying on the prosecutor’s representations concerning the content of the tapes.
In our view, the trial judge misconstrued this court’s opinion. Reliance upon the prosecutor’s representations concerning the tapes was there condemned only because those representations were received as a substitute for the required Richardson hearing. The opinion did not preclude the trial judge from fully considering these same representations, in the form of the prosecutor’s testimony, at an adversary Richardson hearing. Since the trial judge did not consider this clearly admissible tes timony, we quash the order under review with directions that the trial judge determine from all the evidence, including the prosecutor’s testimony, whether the defendant is prejudiced by the discovery violation.
Certiorari granted; order quashed, with directions.
HENDRY, J., dissents.
SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge
(specially concurring).
I have already expressed and now repeat my extreme doubts about the correctness of the determination in State v. Steinbrecher, 409 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982) that, as a general rule, certiorari lies at the state’s behest to review non-final orders in criminal prosecutions. State v. Whitehead, 443 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) (Schwartz, C.J., specially concurring); State v. C.C., 449 So. 2d 280, 282 n. 7 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) (Schwartz, C.J., specially concurring).
Apart from being bound by this conclusion notwithstanding my disagreement with it, State v. Whitehead, supra, I concur in the consideration of the present petition because the order below involves a claimed —and, as we hold, actual — departure from our prior mandate in this cause. Such a contention is clearly properly resolved by certiorari.1 E.g., Jones v. Knuck, 388 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980).
On the merits, I fully agree with Judge Pearson’s opinion.
. In appropriate cases, such a claim may also be reviewable by prohibition, Robbins v. Pfeiffer, 407 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), mandamus, motion for enforcement, Stuart v. Hertz Corp., 381 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980), or appeal. Goodner v. Shapiro, 367 So. 2d 1110 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. Steinbrecher, 409 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
- State v. C.C., 449 So. 2d 280 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- Frank A. Stuart, M.D. v. The HERTZ Corp., 381 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Robbins v. The Honorable Frederick Pfeiffer, 407 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)
- Jones v. The Honorable Francis X. Knuck, 388 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
- Goodner v. Shapiro, 367 So. 2d 1110 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
- The City OF Miami v. Wellington Rolle and Alcides I. De Los Reyes, 446 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
- Josey Wales Balboa v. State, 446 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
- State v. Crispin Whitehead, 443 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)