JUAN DEDIOS PEREZ, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Juan Dedios Perez appeals his conviction for cocaine trafficking, arguing entrapment. The Florida appellate court affirms, finding no error in the trial court's rejection of the entrapment defense because the defendant failed to establish that police, rather than a private citizen, induced the crime, and evidence demonstrated predisposition to commit the offense.
The court affirmed the conviction, finding no entrapment because: (1) the fee arrangement was not contingent on transaction proceeds and the informant did not testify; (2) entrapment requires illegal police activity, not acts of private citizens, and Perez failed to prove police inducement; (3) sufficient evidence existed to submit the entrapment question to the jury; and (4) evidence of predisposition negated the entrapment defense.
[1] A fee arrangement between police and an informant warrants reversal only if the informant's testimony is essential for conviction and the fee is contingent on the percent…
[2] Entrapment results only from illegal police activity that induces a criminal act, not from the acts of private citizens.
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“entrapment results only from illegal police activity which induces a criminal act, not from the acts of private citizens”
Establishes that entrapment requires government inducement; private citizen conduct cannot constitute entrapment
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePerez obtained jewelry on consignment and sold it through Miami Beach hotel contacts. During one transaction, he accepted a pound of cocaine as collat…
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PER CURIAM.
Defendant, Juan Dedios Perez, appeals his conviction for trafficking in cocaine. We affirm.
Perez obtained jewelry on consignment and sold it through contacts at various Miami Beach hotels. As part of one of his transactions, he accepted a pound of cocaine as collateral for jewelry from one of his contacts. At the time, the contact was accompanied by a confidential informant. The cocaine was to be sold and the proceeds were to go to the defendant. The informant set up a deal with police to purchase the cocaine from the defendant’s contact. The contact notified the defendant who arrived with the cocaine and proceeded to consummate the deal with a police detective. After the defendant received his money, he proposed another drug transaction with the detective. Immediately thereafter, Perez was arrested. At trial, the jury found him guilty as charged.
Perez contends that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the charges on the basis of entrapment. We disagree for the following reasons.
First, a fee arrangement between police and an informant is a ground for reversal only if the informant’s testimony is essential for conviction and if there is proof that the fee was contingent based on the percentage of funds obtained from the drug transaction. Dodd v. State, 475 So. 2d 310 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), review denied, 488 So. 2d 829 (Fla.1986); Yolman v. State, 473 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 475 So. 2d 696 (Fla.1985). The fee arrangement involved here was based on the type and quality of the case. The confidential informant in this case was paid within a few days of defendant’s arrest; he did not testify at trial.
Second, entrapment results only from illegal police activity which induces a criminal act, not from the acts of private citizens. State v. Perez, 438 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); Pearson v. United States, 378 F. 2d 555 (5th Cir.1967). Perez did not prove that he was induced to act by the informant. Testimony showed that a third party, defendant’s contact, offered the cocaine in place of the jewelry and that the third party, not the informant, supplied the cocaine.
Next, where the testimony of the defendant is the sole basis for an entrapment defense, entrapment is not established as a matter of law; it is a jury question. United States v. Bower, 575 F. 2d 499 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 983, 99 S.Ct. 572, 58 L.Ed.2d 654 (1978). While Perez testified that it was the informant’s persistent demands that he take the cocaine which induced him to become involved in the drug transaction, there was sufficient evidence to the contrary to take the question to the jury. Flynn v. State, 351 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977); Richert v. State, 338 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976), cert. denied, 346 So. 2d 1250 (Fla.1977); United States v. Workopich, 479 F. 2d 1142 (5th Cir.1973).
Finally, an essential element of the entrapment defense is the absence of a predisposition to commit the crime. State v. Wheeler, 468 So. 2d 978 (Fla.1985); Cruz v. State, 465 So. 2d 516 (Fla.), cert. denied, 473 U.S. 905, 105 S.Ct. 3527, 87 L.Ed.2d 652 (1985); State v. Dickinson, 370 So. 2d 762 (Fla.1979). We note that while transacting the deal with police, defendant commented that this was the best cocaine he had ever had; after the sale, he offered to make a second cocaine deal with the detective. The jury could well have considered this proof of the defendant’s predisposition to commit the crime. United States v. Grassi, 616 F. 2d 1295 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 956, 101 S.Ct. 363, 66 L.Ed.2d 220 (1980).
Finding that appellant’s remaining points on appeal lack merit, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
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Naceur Khelifi v. State, 560 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…ge cocaine purchase by the codefendants even though the authorities knew of no prior criminal activity by them. However, these factors alone do not amount to a violation of due process rights as a matter of law. E.g. Hunter v. State; Perez v. State, 517 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); State v. Ruiz, 495 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). Therefore, the judgment and sentence are affirmed. HERSEY, C.J., concurs. ANSTEAD, J., concurs in conclusion only.…
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Perez v. State, 561 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990)…n be inferred from circumstantial evidence indicative of an overall plan, LaPolla v. State, 504 So. 2d 1353 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), and a jury is not required to [*1266] accept or believe a defendants testimony or theory of defense, see Perez v. State, 517 So. 2d 106 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), we affirm appellant’s conviction. Affirmed.…
Authorities Cited (18 total)
- Cruz v. State, 465 So. 2d 516 (Fla. 1985)
- Sinclair v. Brown, 449 U.S. 956 (U.S. 1980)
- Grassi v. United States, 449 U.S. 956 (U.S. 1980)
- United States v. Dante Angelo Grassi and Jack Louis Gail, 616 F.2d 1295 (5th Cir. 1980)
- Wilson v. Florida, 473 U.S. 905 (U.S. 1985)
- Christoffersen et ux. v. United States, 473 U.S. 905 (U.S. 1985)
- United States v. Wokkopich, 479 F.2d 1142 (5th Cir. 1973)
- State v. Dickinson, 370 So. 2d 762 (Fla. 1979)
- United States v. Bower, 575 F.2d 499 (5th Cir. 1978)
- State v. Wheeler, 468 So. 2d 978 (Fla. 1985)