RONALD MATHESON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE; TIMOTHY MICHAEL JOYCE, APPELLANT, V. STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
Ronald Matheson and Timothy Joyce appealed their convictions for conspiracy to traffic in cannabis and carrying a concealed firearm, arguing various trial errors including alleged discovery violations. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed their convictions, finding no reversible error.
The court affirmed, holding that the prosecutor complied with discovery rules by providing the complete tape that existed (Rule 3.220(a)(1)(viii)), and the prosecutor had no duty to disclose that the tape was incomplete since this was self-evident from inspection. The court noted that if the undercover officer testified about statements not on the tape and not otherwise disclosed, that would constitute a discovery violation under Rule 3.220(a)(1)(iii), but defendants failed to raise a discovery objection to the officer's testimony.
[1] A prosecutor fulfills discovery obligations under Rule 3.220(a)(1)(viii), Fla.R.Crim.P., by disclosing and allowing inspection and copying of all recorded conversations t…
[2] A prosecutor's continuing duty to disclose under discovery rules applies only to discoverable material not previously disclosed.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“The State has no duty to do for the defense work which the defense can do for itself.”
Establishes the principle that discovery obligations are limited and do not require prosecutors to perform investigative work for the defense.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAn undercover officer met with the defendants in a motel room while wearing a Unitel transmitter that allowed another officer outside to record the co…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Continuing Duty To Disclose cases and more on FLexlaw
HURLEY, .Judge.
The record in this consolidated appeal1 contains substantial, competent evidence to support defendants' convictions for conspiracy to traffic in cannabis2 and carrying a concealed firearm.3 Thus, we are left to decide whether any one of several errors claimed in the proceeding requires reversal. Upon review, we conclude that they are either harmless or without merit. Consequently, we affirm.
Although the defendants assert a host of errors, only a few require discussion. The first concerns an alleged discovery violation. It stems from a motel room meeting between an undercover officer and the defendants. The officer was outfitted with a Unitel transmitter which enabled a second officer, outside the room, to record part of the meeting. After the defendants had been arrested and charged, they requested discovery under rule 3.220, Fla.R.Crim.P. The state filed a response indicating that the defendants had given oral statements and that a “Unitel” monitor had been used. In addition, the state provided a duplicate copy of the tape recording to defense counsel.
After listening to the tape, defendant Matheson’s attorney sent the following letter to the prosecutor. I am in receipt of one tape which purports to be the copy of the unitel recording of the transaction involving the defendants in this cause. My tape is recorded only on one side. I mentioned that because the tape ends at a point in time which is obviously not the end of the unitel transmission or recording. Consequently I am lead [sic] to believe that there may be another tape which I have not received. Will you please advise whether there is another tape?
Defendant Joyce’s attorney sent a similar letter. Neither was answered.
At trial the officer who had been responsible for recording the meeting testified before the undercover officer. [The significance of the order of witnesses will be apparent in a moment.] The “recording officer” stated that the motel room meeting had lasted for an hour and ten minutes, but the tape contained only a half-hour of conversation. This discrepancy resulted from the officer’s unfamiliarity with the tape recorder and his failure to switch tapes when the first ran out. On cross-examination, the recording officer admitted that, at his pre-trial deposition, he had testified that the tape was complete. Only later did he realize the error, but he did not communicate further with defense counsel.
The record also discloses that the prosecutor became aware of the problem with the tape sometime after a pre-trial hearing on the defendant’s motion to suppress the tape.
However, he did not convey this information to defense counsel.
Defense counsel moved for a mistrial at the conclusion of the recording officer’s testimony. Counsel argued that the prosecutor’s failure to notify the defense that the tape did not reflect the entire meeting constituted a discovery violation. The trial court denied the motion for mistrial without conducting a full Richardson hearing.4 Thereupon, the state called the undercover officer as its next witness. He recounted the meeting in detail and ascribed several incriminating statements to each defendant. His testimony was received without objection predicated on an alleged discovery violation.
Defendants now contend that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to conduct a Richardson hearing before ruling on the motion for mistrial. The underlying assertion is that the prosecutor violated his duty to provide continuing discovery when he failed to apprise defense counsel that the tape did not cover the entire meeting. To evaluate this contention, we turn to rule 3.220, Fla.R. Crim.P., which governs discovery in criminal cases. Subsection (a)(l)(viii) requires the prosecutor to disclose “[wjhether there has been any electronic surveillance ... of the premises of the accused, or of conversations to which the accused was a party _” Additionally,, the rule requires that defense counsel be permitted to inspect and copy the recorded conversations. The state fulfilled its obligation under this subsection of the rule by providing defense counsel with a duplicate copy of the tape. Nothing more was required.
At the risk of being repetitive, we emphasize the restrictive nature of our holding.
Rule 3.220(a)(l)(viii), Fla.R.Crim.P., requires the prosecutor to disclose and permit the inspection and copying of all tapes of conversations to which the defendant was a party. By giving up everything it had, the state completely fulfilled its obligation under this subsection of the rule. The discovery rules were drafted to balance the scales, to require disclosure of material not otherwise available to the defense. They were not meant to supplant the defendant’s obligation to investigate the case and prepare a defense. “The State has no duty to do for the defense work which the defense can do for itself.” State v. Counce, 392 So. 2d 1029, 1031 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981).
The rules, of course, do impose a continuing duty to disclose, see, e.g., Watson v. State, 291 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974), but this duty applies only to discoverable material that, for one reason or another, was not disclosed earlier.
Thus, under subsection (a)(l)(viii), the prosecutor was not obligated to disclose that which was self-evident, that the tape did not record the entire meeting.
We recognize that a finding of compliance with one subsection does not infer compliance with other parts' of the rule. For example, subsection (a)(l)(iii) requires the prosecutor to disclose “[ajny written or recorded statements and the substance of any oral statements made by the accused .... ” If the undercover officer, who had been present at the motel room meeting, attempted to testify at trial about defendants’ statements, which were not on the tape and which had not been otherwise disclosed to the defense, there would have been a discovery violation. And, upon proper and timely objection, the trial court would have been required to conduct a Richardson hearing. As indicated, however, the defendants did not interpose a discovery objection to any portion of the undercover officer’s testimony.
Thus, we have not been presented with, and do not reach, the question of whether the state satisfied its obligation under rule 3.220(a)(l)(iii), Fla.R.Crim.P.
Finally, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting into evidence the tape of the motel room meeting, even though the tape was partially inaudible or unintelligible. See Odom v. State, 403 So. 2d 936 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 925, 102 S.Ct. 1970, 72 L.Ed.2d 440 (1982); Stanley v. State, 451 So. 2d 897 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984). Also, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of the defendant Joyce’s motion for severance. See Tifford v. State, 334 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 344 So. 2d 327 (Fla.1977).
Accordingly, defendants convictions and sentences are
AFFIRMED.
ANSTEAD, C.J., and GREEN, OLIVER L., JR., Associate Judge, concur. .Initially, we consolidated for record purposes only; we now consolidate for disposition as well.
. § 893.135(l)(a)(l), Fla.Stat. (1983); § 777.-04(3), Fla.Stat. (1983).
. § 790.01(2), Fla.Stat. (1983).
. Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla.1971); see generally Donahue v. State, 464 So. 2d 609 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Herrera v. State, 532 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…this court agrees that the tape was only partially inaudible. See Odom v. State, 403 So. 2d 936 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 925, 102 S.Ct. 1970, 72 L.Ed.2d 440 (1982); Edwards v. State, 529 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); Matheson v. State, 468 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), cause dismissed, 500 So. 2d 1341 (Fla.1987); State v. Steinbrecker, 409 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Gomien v. State, 172 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965). Cf. Springer v. State, 429 So. 2d 808 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) (admission of a…
-
Raffone v. State, 483 So. 2d 761 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)…rt of the nature of their complaint. Also, other courts have proceeded to address Richardson-hearing issues which were apparently preserved by a motion for a mistrial. See, e.g., Torres v. State, 474 So. 2d 335 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Matheson v. State, 468 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). The state’s second argument, that no discovery violation occurred, is unpersuasive. It contends that a defendant cannot claim prejudice as a result of his own failure to obtain information which could have been obtained through…
-
Harris v. State, 619 So. 2d 340 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…403 So. 2d 936 (Fla.1981); Golden v. State, [429 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983), rev. denied, 431 So. 2d 988 (Fla.1983)]; Steinbrecher v. State, 409 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Gomien v. State, 172 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965); Matheson v. State, 468 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). Loren v. State, 518 So. 2d 342, 352 n. 4 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). In Golden v. State, 429 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983), this court analyzed whether a trial court had properly allowed the state to visually display an incriminating…
Previewing 3 of 7 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)
- Odom v. State, 403 So. 2d 936 (Fla. 1981)
- Bowsher v. Merck & Co., Inc., 456 U.S. 925 (U.S. 1982)
- O'Brien v. United States, 456 U.S. 925 (U.S. 1982)
- State v. Counce, 392 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
- Donahue v. State, 464 So. 2d 609 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)
- Tifford v. State, 334 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)
- Stanley v. State, 451 So. 2d 897 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)
- Watson v. State, 291 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)