STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
JAMES GILBERT, APPELLEE
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ORFINGER, Judge.
The trial court erred in holding that an experienced narcotics officer could not testify as to the weight of a bag containing cocaine which he had seen the defendant remove from his back, tear open and throw into a pond. An experienced narcotics officer (as well as a lay witness) can testify to the approximate weight of a given matter. Madruga v. State, 434 So. 2d 331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); Capo v. State, 406 So. 2d 1242 (Fla. 1st DCA), pet. for rev. denied, 413 So. 2d 875 (Fla.1982). The proffered testimony would be sufficient to show the corpus delicti of trafficking in 400 grams or more of cocaine, so as to make defendant’s voluntary statement that he was carrying approximately one pound of cocaine admissible. See State v. Allen, 335 So. 2d 823 (Fla.1976). The trial court therefore erred in dismissing the trafficking charge.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
COBB and SHARP, JJ., concur.
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Citator
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Brooks v. State, 762 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 2000)…ks that were “about a gram in size and identical in shape.” Under these circumstances, the trial court properly allowed Johnson to give opinion testimony regarding the approximate weight of the rocks in the sandwich bag. See, e.g., State v. Gilbert, 507 So. 2d 637, 638 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987) (finding that trial court erred in precluding narcotics officer from testifying about approximate weight of bag containing cocaine that was dumped by defendant in pond, stating “[a]n experienced narcotics officer (as well as…
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Donado v. State, 560 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)…onfession. See Thomas v. State, 531 So. 2d 708, 710 (Fla.1988); State v. Allen, 335 So. 2d 823 (Fla.1976); McIntosh v. State, 532 So. 2d 1129, 1131 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); State v. Hepburn, 460 So. 2d 422, 426 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984); cf. State v. Gilbert, 507 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). Second, we conclude that the comments made in closing argument to the jury by the prosecuting attorney and counsel for the codefendant, although improper, did not vitiate the entire trial and thereby compel a mistrial. The pro…
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Mojicaphipps v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2022)…cotics officer may testify as to weight, the contraband was not available for quantitative testing by a chemist. Id. at 894 (holding drug dealer who observed contraband before it disappeared could testify as to approximate weight); State v. Gilbert, 507 So. 2d 637, 638 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987) (holding that narcotics officer could testify as to approximate weight of contraband that he saw defendant remove from his backpack, tear open, and throw into a pond); Madruga v. State, 434 So. 2d 331, 331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Allen, 335 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1976)
- Madruga v. State, 434 So. 2d 331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- Capo v. State, 406 So. 2d 1242 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)