BEVERLY JEAN ALLEN, 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.
Beverly Allen was convicted by jury of first-degree murder and armed robbery. She appealed on the ground that a transcript of her tape-recorded confession was inadmissible because the original tape was lost and the transcript's authenticity was never established. The Florida appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding no reversible error in admitting the transcript.
The court affirmed the admission of the transcript, finding that: (1) the specific authentication objection was not preserved for appeal as it was not raised below; (2) even if properly raised, the testimony of officers White and Waas who participated in the confession sufficiently established the transcript's authenticity; and (3) the transcript was essentially cumulative evidence given the officers' independent recollection testimony and corroborating witness statements.
[1] A claim of error regarding the admissibility of evidence is not preserved for appeal if the specific legal ground for the objection was not raised in the trial court.
[2] Testimony from officers present during and participating in a tape-recorded confession can sufficiently authenticate a transcript of that confession, even if the original…
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 test for authentication under the code is whether the evidence is "sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims."”
Establishes the legal standard for authentication under Florida Evidence Code section 90.901
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBeverly Allen made a tape-recorded confession a few hours after a homicide was discovered. Officers White and Waas were present during and participate…
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 Authentication Of Evidence cases and more on FLexlaw
SMITH, Judge.
Beverly Jean Allen, convicted by a jury of first degree murder and armed robbery, appeals her conviction and sentence. The sole ground for reversal is alleged error of the trial court in admitting into evidence, without proper authentication, a transcript of appellant’s tape-recorded confession, in the absence of the tape recording itself which was lost by the state. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
Appellant maintains that while a written transcript of her tape-recorded confession would be admissible as secondary evidence under the Florida Evidence Code, section 90.954(1), Florida Statutes (1981), if the tape itself (as the best evidence, section 90.952, Florida Statutes (1981)) was lost or destroyed, the transcript in this case was not admissible because its authenticity was never established as required under the code, section 90.901. We find several grounds for our decision adverse to appellant.
First, our review of the trial record discloses that the specific ground urged here, lack of authentication, was not raised below. Instead, the objections below focused on the state’s allegedly inadequate showing of a diligent search for the lost tape. The specific basis for reversal argued here not having been asserted as a legal ground for the objection to admissibility below, the point has not been preserved for appeal. Steinhorst v. State, 412 So. 2d 332, 338 (Fla.1982).
Secondly, even if the objections below could be viewed as suggesting, even remotely, the absence of proper authentication, appellant’s argument would fail. Officers White and Waas, both of whom testified at the trial, were present during and participated in the tape-recorded confession. Their testimony, taken as a whole, sufficiently established that the typed transcript completely and accurately reflected the incriminating statements made by appellant a few hours after the homicide was discovered. Both claimed an independent knowledge and recollection of the events of the crime as revealed by appellant. Although the transcript did contain in several places the stenographer’s insertion of the phrase “unable to understand,” it is obvious from the testimony of the officers and the veteran sheriff’s department stenographer who typed it, as well as from the context in which these insertions appear, that the accuracy of the transcript was not materially affected.
The test for authentication under the code is whether the evidence is “sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.” § 90.901, Fla.Stat. (1981). Further, in determining whether the evidence is sufficient for this purpose “the trial judge must evaluate each instance on its own merits, there being no specific list of requirements for such a determination.” Justus v. State, 438 So. 2d 358, 365 (Fla.1983). And, unless “clearly erroneous,” the trial court’s determination must stand. Id. at 365. We find the circumstances here distinctly different from those in Duggan v. State, 189 So. 2d 890 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966), in which the only witness concerning the transcription offered in evidence was a court reporter, who made the transcript from a recording, but was not present when the recording was made, and had no independent knowledge of what was actually said.
Finally, we note that the transcript was essentially cumulative evidence. The testimony of both officers reflects their independent recollection of the confession. In addition, a non-law-enforcement witness testified that shortly after the occurrence of the crime appellant came to his house seeming nervous, then appeared to be crying, then admitted she shot the victim and placed in his possession a .22 caliber pistol which he later turned over to the authorities. No reversible error having been shown, the convictions and sentences appealed are,
AFFIRMED.
BOOTH, C.J., and WENTWORTH, J„ concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Herrera v. State, 532 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…for further review by a higher court, an issue must be presented to the lower court and the specific legal argument or ground to be argued on appeal or review must be part of that presentation if it is to be considered preserved.”); Allen v. State, 492 So. 2d 802, 803 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (“The specific basis for reversal [lack of authentication] argued here not having been asserted as a legal ground for the objection to admissibility below, the point has not been preserved for appeal.”). Next, appellant con…
-
Symonette v. State, 100 So. 3d 180 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…Fla. Stat. (2009). “Further, in determining whether the evidence is sufficient for this purpose ‘the trial judge must evaluate each instance on its own merits, there being no specific list of requirements for such a determination.’ ” Allen v. State, 492 So. 2d 802, 803 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (quoting Justus v. State, 438 So. 2d 358, 365 (Fla.1983)). “Evidence may be authenticated by appearance, content, substance, internal patterns, or other distinctive characteristics taken in conjunction with the circumstance…
-
Loren v. State, 518 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…udge must evaluate each instance on its own merits, there being no specific list of requirements for such determination, and unless “clearly erroneous,” the trial court’s determination of matters relating to authenticity must stand); Allen v. State, 492 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). In support of her contention that the jury was improperly influenced by the use of the transcript, appellant relies in part upon the court reporter’s observations (as established by notes made by the reporter during the playing…
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
- Steinhorst v. State, 412 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1982)
- Buddy Earl Justus v. State, 438 So. 2d 358 (Fla. 1983)
- Duggan v. State, 189 So. 2d 890 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966)