STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
CHAD GONSALVES, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court denied the state's petition for certiorari challenging a trial court order allowing a defendant charged with attempted burglary to photograph the interior of the victim's home. The court held that the defendant's due process right to inspect and photograph the crime scene outweighs the victim's privacy interest in her home when good cause has been shown.
The trial court's order was not a departure from the essential requirements of law. Where good cause has been shown for inspection of a crime scene residence, such an order generally would not constitute a departure from essential requirements of law, because the defendant's due process right to discovery outweighs the victim's privacy interest in her home.
[1] A trial court may order discovery of evidence, including photographs of a crime scene, upon a showing of materiality and when justice requires.
[2] A defendant's right to due process and a fair trial may outweigh a victim's privacy interests in their home when evidence at the crime scene is material to the defense.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“No right is held more sacred, or is more carefully guarded, by the common law, than the right of an individual to the possession and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others, unless by clear and unquestionable authority of law.”
Establishes the heightened protection for bodily intrusions under common law, distinguishing cases involving the defendant's body from orders involving property
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant was charged with attempted burglary of a dwelling with intent to commit theft. The victim identified the defendant as someone she saw ou…
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KLEIN, Judge.
The state seeks, by petition for writ of certiorari, to quash an order of the trial court granting defendant’s motion to photograph a portion of the inside of the home of the victim of a crime. We conclude that the ruling was not a departure from the essential requirements of law.
Defendant is charged with attempted burglary of a dwelling with intent to commit theft. The victim identified the defendant as the person she observed outside her kitchen window while she was in her kitchen. Although the victim allowed the police to photograph her house, both inside and out, she objected to more photography because she felt that it would facilitate another attempted break-in.
The trial court, finding that the area would be “material for possible cross-examination and/or impeachment purposes” granted defendant’s motion to inspect and photograph, limiting the taking of photographs to the portion of the exterior where the alleged attempted burglary took place and to that part of the interior of the kitchen from where the victim saw the defendant outside her window. The court concluded that this discovery was authorized by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220(f) which provides: “On a showing of materiality, the court may require such other discovery to the parties as justice may require.”
The state relies on Bartlett v. Hamwi, 626 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), in which this court quashed an order requiring a prosecution witness to have hair samples extracted from her body for testing by the defendant. Hamwi, however, as well as State v. Farr, 558 So. 2d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), and State v. Drab, 546 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) all turned on the fact that the orders involved the objecting person’s body. Our decisions were grounded on a case in which our supreme court quashed a similar order, stating:
No right is held more sacred, or is more carefully guarded, by the common law, than the right of an individual to the pos session and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others, unless by clear and unquestionable authority of law.
State v. Smith, 260 So. 2d 489, 491 (Fla.1972).
In a case on all fours, Henshaw v. Commonwealth, 19 Va.App. 338, 461 S.E. 2d 415 (1994), the court concluded that the defendant was entitled to inspect, photograph and measure the residence which was the scene of the crime, on a proper showing, because denial of the request would violate due process:
The very integrity of the judicial system and public confidence in the system depend on full disclosure of all the facts, within the framework of the rules of evidence. To insure that justice is done, it is imperative to the function of courts that compulsory process be available for the production of evidence needed either by the prosecution or by the defense.
Henshaw, 451 S.E. 2d at 418 (quoting United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 709, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 3108, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974)(involving federal constitutional due process)). See also People v. Nicholas, 157 Misc.2d 947, 599 N.Y.S.2d 779 (N.Y.Sup.1993); State v. Brown, 306 N.C. 151, 293 S.E. 2d 569 (1982).
Although we respect this victim’s right to privacy in her home, we conclude that it is outweighed by the defendant’s right to due process here. We also conclude that where good cause has been shown for inspection of the crime scene residence, such an order would generally not constitute a departure from the essential requirements of law. We therefore deny certiorari.
STONE and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Siegel v. State, 68 So. 3d 281 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)…lin v. State, 975 So. 2d 1188, 1190 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). “[T]he very integrity of the judicial system and public confidence in the system depend on full disclosure of all the facts, within the framework of the rules of evidence.” State v. Gonsalves, 661 So. 2d 1281, 1282 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). Nevertheless, the rule also provides for the issuance of protective orders to exempt matters from discovery “on a showing of good cause.” Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.220(1). The prosecutor provided to the defense copies of the onli…
Authorities Cited
- United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (U.S. 1974)
- State v. Smith, 260 So. 2d 489 (Fla. 1972)
- State v. Drab, 546 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)
- State v. Farr, 558 So. 2d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
- Bartlett v. Hamwi, 626 So. 2d 1040 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)