MERCIDEIU PEPILUS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the absence of a seal on a search warrant affidavit does not render the warrant fatally defective if the officer swore to its truth.
Defendant appealed convictions for drug trafficking and possession with intent to sell. The primary issue concerned a search warrant affidavit that wa…
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LEHAN, Judge.
Defendant appeals his convictions for trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to sell and raises three contentions. We affirm.
Defendant’s first contention is that the search warrant pursuant to which cocaine was seized from defendant’s residence was defective because the officer’s supporting affidavit, while signed by the officer and sworn to by him before a judge who signed the affidavit, did not contain an attesting seal. We disagree with that contention. The absence of the seal did not render the search warrant fatally defective. See State v. McManus, 404 So. 2d 757, 758 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), review denied, 412 So. 2d 468 (Fla.1982). The officer, by swearing to the affidavit, subjected himself to a charge of perjury if the affidavit proved untrue. See Collins v. State, 465 So. 2d 1266, 1268 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985).
We need not address the additional arguments of the state regarding defendant’s first contention. Those are generally that the relevant statutes do not require a seal under these circumstances, that defendant did not have standing to raise the contention, and that the good faith exception under United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984) applies.
We also disagree with defendant’s second contention. See Bello v. State, 547 So. 2d 914, 918 (Fla.1989), and third contention, see State v. Daophin, 533 So. 2d 761 (Fla.1988); Palmer v. State, 489 So. 2d 226, 227 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986).
Affirmed.
DANAHY, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
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Gupton v. Dep't OF Hwy. Safety, 987 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)…that document was affidavit despite technical defects in notarization when notarization substantially complied with statute or met generally recognized criteria for affidavits and there was no genuine issue about its authenticity); Pepilus v. State, 554 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (holding that absence of attesting seal did not render search warrant affidavit fatally defective).2 If the attestor had been a notary public, the notary’s seal would have been affixed to the document. § 117.05(3)(a), Fla. Stat.…
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Dep't OF Hwy. Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Emmett Bruce McGILL, 616 So. 2d 1212 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)…he officer’s identity or proof at the hearing, this defect may have been relevant; however, in the present case, this defect clearly had no substantive or evidentiary significance and [*1214] was not fatal to the state’s proof. See Pepilus v. State, 554 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of certiorari, quash the opinion of the lower court, and instruct the suspension of McGill’s license be reinstated. PETITION GRANTED; OPINION QUASHED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS. COBB…
Authorities Cited
- United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (U.S. 1984)
- State v. Jewel May Daophin, 533 So. 2d 761 (Fla. 1988)
- Bello v. State, 547 So. 2d 914 (Fla. 1989)
- Collins v. State, 465 So. 2d 1266 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
- State v. McMANUS, 404 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
- Palmer v. State, 489 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)