LUIS TALAVERA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court reversed a cocaine trafficking conviction because the trial court failed to conduct a Richardson hearing before ruling on discovery violations, which constitutes per se reversible error.
Failure to conduct a Richardson hearing to inquire into the nature and prejudicial effect of discovery violations is per se reversible error.
[1] A trial court's failure to conduct a Richardson hearing examining whether discovery violations were inadvertent or willful and whether they prejudiced trial preparation c…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Failure to hold a Richardson hearing is per se reversible error, without regard to the harmless error rule.”
Court explaining the mandatory nature of Richardson hearings and that they cannot be excused by harmless error analysis.
Talavera was convicted of trafficking in cocaine. During trial, both the state and defense objected to evidence on discovery violation grounds.…
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PER CURIAM.
The appellant, Luis Talavera, challenges the judgment and sentence entered after he was found guilty of trafficking in cocaine. We reverse.
During the state’s case in chief, counsel for the appellant objected to the introduction of testimony by two of the state’s witnesses on the basis that the state had violated the rules of discovery. Similarly, during the presentation of the defense, the state objected to the introduction of certain pieces of physical evidence alleging that the defense had not complied with the rules of discovery in regard to such evidence. The trial court ruled adversely to the appellant on each of these objections without fully inquiring as to whether the alleged violations were inadvertent or willful, whether they were trivial or substantial, and whether they had a prejudicial effect on the opposing party’s ability to prepare for trial as required by Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla.1971). Failure to hold a Richardson hearing is per se reversible error, without regard to the harmless error rule. See Brown v. State, 515 So. 2d 211 (Fla.1987); Smith v. State, 500 So. 2d 125 (Fla.1986).
We, accordingly, reverse the appellant’s judgment and sentence and remand for a new trial.
Reversed.
DANAHY, C.J., and SCHEB and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Delgado v. State, 890 So. 2d 1269 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)…available in the present case. More importantly, a trial court is absolutely required to conduct a Richardson hearing before imposing any sanction, let alone excluding a witness. See Smith v. State, 500 So. 2d 125 (Fla.1986); cf., Talavera v. State, 523 So. 2d 1258 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Reversal is required for a failure to conduct the hearing unless the error is harmless. See State v. Schopp, 653 So. 2d 1016 (Fla.1995). In the present case, since the trial court failed to conduct a Richardson hearing, it could…
Authorities Cited
- Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1971)
- Smith v. State, 500 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 1986)
- Brown v. State, 515 So. 2d 211 (Fla. 1987)