DAVID JAMES NERO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The Fourth District reversed Nero's conviction based on the constitutional question of whether the source of illegal drugs used in reverse stings shields defendants from criminal liability, certifying the issue to the Florida Supreme Court.
A defendant's conviction must be reversed and the case remanded with instructions to discharge when the legality of drugs used in reverse stings raises a constitutional question of great public importance.
[1] The source of illegal drugs used by law enforcement in reverse sting operations may constitute a constitutional defense to criminal liability, warranting certification to…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant Nero was convicted in connection with illegal drugs used by law enforcement in a reverse sting operation.…
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PER CURIAM.
We reverse appellant’s conviction on the authority of Kelly v. State, 593 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), and Grissett v. State, 594 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), and remand to the trial court with instructions to discharge appellant. As we did in Johnson v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Sheffield v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), and Williams v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
, we again certify the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as a question of great public importance:
DOES THE SOURCE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS USED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO CONDUCT REVERSE STINGS CONSTITUTIONALLY SHIELD THOSE WHO BECOME ILLICITLY INVOLVED WITH SUCH DRUGS FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY?
REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS; QUESTION CERTIFIED.
DOWNEY and FARMER, JJ., concur. HERSEY, J., concurs specially with opinion.
. But see Robertson v. State, 605 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Mercano v. State, 600 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Walker v. State, 600 So. 2d 42 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Fox v. State, 600 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Rhodes v. State, 597 So. 2d 974 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Hamilton v. State, 596 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Grissett v. State, 594 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), Rivera v. State, 593 So. 2d 1063 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), and Scott v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla.1992), all of which involve the same crack cocaine manufactured by Sheriff Navarro, where we failed (for some unarticulated reason) to certify the same question.
HERSEY, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur only because I am obliged by precedent to do so.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Wilson, 604 So. 2d 578 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)…STONE, Judge, concurring specially. I would certify the same issue certified in Nero v. State, 604 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), and Williams v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992).…
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Lawler v. State, 609 So. 2d 658 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)…rev. granted, No. 79,507 (Fla. July 6, 1992). However, this court has routinely recertified the question in Williams, reversed the defendant’s conviction, and remanded to the trial court with directions to discharge the defendant. See Nero v. State, 604 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Johnson v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Sheffield v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla.1992). Given this court’s ruling in Kelly v. State, 593 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 4th D…
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Gathers v. State, 608 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)…tion to be of great public importance: DOES THE SOURCE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS USED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO CONDUCT REVERSE STINGS CONSTITUTIONALLY SHIELD THOSE WHO BECOME ILLICITLY INVOLVED WITH SUCH DRUGS FROM CRIMINAL LIABILITY? Nero v. State, 604 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Johnson v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Sheffield v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992); and Williams v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). We…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (16 total)
- Kelly v. State, 593 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Williams v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Grissett v. State, 594 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Robertson v. State, 605 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- State v. Perry, 605 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- Johnson v. State, 599 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- State v. Pagan, 600 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- Walker v. State, 600 So. 2d 42 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Regueiro v. State, 596 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)