HECTOR RAFAEL GARCIA, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Hector Rafael Garcia was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. The Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded for a new trial due to the trial court's erroneous denial of a peremptory challenge to a Hispanic juror and evidentiary errors regarding admission of an empty holster and cash.
The trial court committed reversible error in denying the peremptory challenge because the defendant and challenged juror were both Hispanic and no evidence in the record suggested a discriminatory intent. The trial court also abused its discretion in admitting the empty holster and cash as neither item was relevant to the case.
[1] A trial court commits reversible error by finding a peremptory challenge to be pretextual without sufficient evidence of discriminatory intent, particularly when the defe…
[2] Evidence is inadmissible if it is irrelevant to any aspect of the case, such as an empty holster when no weapon was recovered or linked to the charges, or a small amount…
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“there is no reason in common sense, legal intuition or the record to overcome 'the presumption that peremptories will be exercised in a nondiscriminatory manner,' or to justify a finding of 'discriminatory intent.'”
Establishes the legal standard for evaluating peremptory challenges and why the trial court erred in sustaining the State's challenge to the defense's strike of juror Paz.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGarcia was alleged to be the supplier of four kilograms of cocaine in an undercover police operation. The drug transaction occurred in a home with sma…
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PER CURIAM.
Hector Rafael Garcia appeals from a judgment of conviction for trafficking, and con- spiraey to traffic in cocaine. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
In an undercover police operation, defendant was alleged to have been the supplier of four kilograms of cocaine. The drug transaction occurred in a home where small children lived. During voir dire, the defense sought to exercise a peremptory challenge against juror Mary Paz. The State raised a Neil challenge to the strike. After noting that Ms. Paz was Hispanic, the trial court asked defense counsel to provide a race-neutral reason for the strike. The defense proffered that Ms. Paz worked for the school system, was the mother of small children, and was thus not likely to be able to render a fair verdict for the defendant. The trial court found these reasons pretextual and ordered Ms. Paz seated as a juror. She became the foreperson of the jury.
The trial court committed reversible eiTor when it refused to allow the defense to strike juror Paz, as “there is no reason in common sense, legal intuition or the record to overcome ‘the presumption that perempto-ries will be exercised in a nondiscriminatory manner,’ or to justify a finding of ‘discriminatory intent.’ ” Betancourt v. State, 650 So. 2d 1021, 1023 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (citations omitted). In this case, as in Betancourt, defendant was Hispanic; the challenged juror was Hispanic; and there was no basis whatsoever in the record “for even implying a racial reason” for the strike. Id. Accordingly, we reverse the conviction, and remand for a new trial.
We must also reach the evidentiary issues raised on appeal, as these matters are likely to recur when defendant is tried again. Over the defendant’s objection, the trial court allowed the State to introduce an empty holster1 recovered from the defendant’s car, and $880.00 in cash that defendant was carrying when he was arrested at the scene of the crime. The trial court abused its discretion in admitting the holster and the cash, as neither was relevant to any portion of the case. See Sosa v. State, 639 So. 2d 173, 174 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (ammunition found in defendant’s vehicle erroneously admitted where “[n]o weapon was found, no ballistics tests performed, and no link whatsoever established between these rounds and the case at bar.”); Huhn v. State, 511 So. 2d 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987) (weapon not connected to crimes with which defendant charged was not admissible); Lowder v. State, 589 So. 2d 933, 936 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (inference of criminal activity does not arise from possession of relatively small amount of cash).
We find no error in the trial court’s denial of defendant’s request to re instruct the jury that “the existence of the conspiracy and each member’s participation therein must ultimately be proven by evidence independent of the coconspirator statements.” The court gave the cautionary instruction just before the coeonspirator’s statements were introduced, but did not repeat the instruction when charging the jury at the end of the trial. The instruction is “geared to apprise the jury regarding the admission of hearsay evidence before, or at the time, it is admitted.” Eaton v. State, 410 So. 2d 933, 934 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981) (emphasis added), approved, 438 So. 2d 822 (Fla.1983); see also Tresvant v. State, 396 So. 2d 733, 737 n. 7 (Fla. 3d DCA) (instruction to be given at outset of case or prior to admission of testimony), rev. denied, 408 So. 2d 1096 (Fla.1981). We are aware of no statutory or constitutional basis for requiring the trial court to remind the jury of an earlier-given instruction on the relative weight to accord a coconspirator’s hearsay testimony.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
. There was no evidence connecting the holster to any weapon recovered from the scene of the drug transaction. Moreover, the State conceded that there was no basis to charge defendant with armed trafficking.
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Cruz v. State, 660 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…f any earlier objection the defense could have made to the Neil inquiry before the jury was sworn. See Joiner v. State, 618 So. 2d 174 (Fla.1993). We acknowledge the opinions of Barquin v. State, 654 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), Garcia v. State, 655 So. 2d 194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), and Portu v. State, 651 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), but find them factually distinguishable from the case at hand and therefore inapplicable. In Barquin and Portu, the State raised Neil inquiries, but without alleging that the…1 / 2
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Brunson v. State, 31 So. 3d 926 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…while cash found on the person at the time of arrest may not be admissible to prove simple possession, it is relevant to prove the charge of trafficking. Appellant cites both Lowder v. State, 589 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), and Garcia v. State, 655 So. 2d 194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), for the proposition that the underlying evidence is inadmissible, yet neither of those cases mandates reversal here. In Loivder, the objection was not to the cash itself being admissible, but to the State’s attempt to call an off…
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Tony deAndre Smith v. State, 662 So. 2d 1336 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)…ased on this record, there was nothing to overcome the Neil presumption or to justify a finding of discriminatory intent. See Betancourt v. State, 650 So. 2d 1021, 1023 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 659 So. 2d 272 (Fla.1995); accord Garcia v. State, 655 So. 2d 194, 195 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 662 So. 2d 343 (1995). We pause at this juncture to acknowledge the trial court’s well-founded observation in the record that it is often difficult to keep abreast of the ever-changing principles which govern what…
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
- Lowder v. State, 589 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
- Huhn v. State, 511 So. 2d 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
- Eaton v. State, 438 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 1983)
- Tresvant v. State, 396 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- Sosa v. State, 639 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Gehrmann v. State, 650 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)
- Betancourt v. State, 650 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
- Eaton v. State, 410 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)