STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
RONALD PALMER, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court approved reversal of a drug conviction, holding that law enforcement's illegal manufacture of crack cocaine for a reverse-sting operation violates the due process clause of the Florida Constitution, regardless of whether drugs escaped into the community.
The illegal manufacture of crack cocaine by law enforcement officials for use in a reverse-sting operation within one thousand feet of a school constitutes governmental misconduct violating the due process clause of the Florida Constitution, requiring reversal of the conviction. The Court held that the illegality of the manufacturing itself, rather than whether drugs escaped into the community, is the basis for the due process violation.
[1] Law enforcement's illegal manufacture of controlled substances for use in a reverse-sting operation constitutes governmental misconduct violating the due process clause o…
[2] The illegality of law enforcement's manufacturing of drugs for a reverse sting, rather than the escape of drugs into the community, is the basis for a due process violati…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the illegal manufacture of crack cocaine by law enforcement officials for use in a reverse-sting operation within one thousand feet of a school constitutes governmental misconduct which violates the due process clause of the Florida Constitution”
The Court's holding establishing that police manufacturing of drugs for reverse stings violates due process
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRonald Palmer was convicted of purchasing crack cocaine within one thousand feet of a school. Law enforcement conducted a reverse-sting operation in w…
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PER CURIAM.
We have for review Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577, 578 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), in which the Fourth District Court of Appeal certified the same question that it certified in Williams v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). In Williams, the court certified the following question:
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?
Palmer, 602 So. 2d at 577 (quoting Williams, 593 So. 2d at 1064). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution.
In the instant ease, the district court reversed Palmer’s conviction for purchasing crack cocaine within one thousand feet of a school because it found that the law enforcement officials’ conduct in illegal manufacturing of a controlled substance violated the due process clause of the Florida Constitution.1 The district court cited its decision in Kelly v. State, 593 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 599 So. 2d 1280 (Fla.1992), as the basis of the reversal.
The district court rejected the State’s argument that Kelly was distinguishable because the instant case did not contain allegations that the police lost portions of the crack cocaine during the reverse-sting operation. The district court reasoned that it based its decision on the “issue of illegality and not on the escape of a portion of the drugs into the community.” Palmer, 602 So. 2d at 577. The district court also recertified the question stated in Williams. Id. at 578.
We addressed this issue in State v. Williams, 623 So. 2d 462 (Fla.1993), where we held
that the illegal manufacture of crack cocaine by law enforcement officials for use in a reverse-sting operation within one thousand feet of a school constitutes governmental misconduct which violates the due process clause of the Florida Constitution.
623 So. 2d at 463. We agree with the district court below that the police conduct violates due process because of the illegal conduct in manufacturing the dangerous controlled substance. The fact that some of the crack cocaine escapes into the community applies equally to seized crack cocaine and the cocaine manufactured by the Broward County Sheriffs Office. Thus, we agree with the district court that the facts in the instant case show that the police violated the due process clause of the Florida Constitution.
Accordingly, we approve the decision of the district court below.
It is so ordered.
BARKETT, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur. McDONALD, j., dissents.
. Art. I, § 9, Fla. Const.
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Citator
Cited By
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Donat McDONALD and Dorrell Bryan v. State, 742 So. 2d 830 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…sting operation constitutes governmental misconduct that violates the due process clause of the Florida Constitution. In Williams, the court reversed the defendant’s conviction for purchasing the manufactured crack cocaine. See also State v. Palmer, 623 So. 2d 472 (Fla.1993) (reversing Palmer’s conviction because the cocaine used in the reverse-sting had been illegally manufactured by law enforcement officials). In Metcalf v. State, 635 So. 2d 11 (Fla.1994), the defendant was charged with solicitation to deli…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Williams, 623 So. 2d 462 (Fla. 1993)
- Kelly v. State, 593 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Williams v. State, 593 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Palmer v. State, 602 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)