ROOSEVELT HEATH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Roosevelt Heath appeals his burglary and petit theft convictions, arguing the trial court erred by failing to hold a Richardson hearing regarding an alleged discovery violation when the state called an unreported witness in rebuttal. The appellate court affirmed, finding the trial court properly conducted an inquiry and determined there was no discovery violation, and even if there were one, the defense suffered no prejudice.
The trial court did not err. The court properly held there was no discovery violation because the state could not be expected to anticipate the defendant would take the stand and testify about an alibi when his pretrial defense theory was misidentification. Additionally, even if a violation occurred, the defense suffered no prejudice because defense counsel's assistant had interviewed the witness two to three months before trial.
[1] A trial court conducts a Richardson hearing when it inquires into an alleged discovery violation, even if it does not explicitly state that no violation occurred.
[2] A discovery violation does not occur when the state cannot reasonably anticipate a defendant's alibi defense, which was not previously disclosed.
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“He specifically inquired twice of defense counsel how the state was supposed to anticipate that this defendant would take the stand and testify about what amounts to an alibi, when his theory of defense up to that point had been solely misidentification.”
Establishes the court's reasoning that there was no discovery violation because the state could not anticipate the defendant's change in defense strategy from misidentification to alibi.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHeath was charged with burglary and petit theft. At trial, Heath testified that he was at work at a nearby restaurant at the time of the theft, effect…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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FARMER, Judge.
The only issue in this appeal from a conviction and sentence for burglary and petit theft meriting our attention and discussion is whether the trial court erred in failing to hold a Richardson hearing for an alleged discovery violation. We find that the judge did hold a hearing, properly held that there was no discovery violation and, in any event, that there was no prejudice to defendant.
Both sides engaged in reciprocal pretrial discovery. At trial, however, appellant took the stand and testified, in effect, that at the time of the theft he was actually already at work at a nearby restaurant. Neither party had previously made any filings respecting any notice of alibi. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.200. In rebuttal, the state called a witness, not previously on its pretrial witness list, to testify as the manager of the restaurant that appellant did not show up at work as he claimed.
Before allowing the witness to testify, the trial court conducted an inquiry of both counsel. As a threshold matter, the trial judge concluded, without saying it this way in so many words, that there simply had been no discovery violation under the circumstances of this case. He specifically inquired twice of defense counsel how the state was supposed to anticipate that this defendant would take the stand and testify about what amounts to an alibi, when his theory of defense up to that point had been solely misidentification. Thus, even though the judge did not incant the words, “I find no discovery violation requiring further inquiry,” that is unavoidably the substance of what he did conclude.
In any event, and even if the court had found a violation, defense counsel’s own showing that his assistant had interviewed this precise witness some two or three months before trial removes any suggestion that the defense was prejudiced. Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1971), expressly allows the admission of evidence as against a contention of a discovery violation where there is no undue prejudice to the defendant. Tibbets v. State, 582 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 591 So. 2d 185 (Fla.1991).
AFFIRMED.
DELL and GARRETT, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1971)
- Darold Tibbets v. State, 582 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)