THE STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
JOHN R. MCWILLIAMS AND DARRELL EVEN MCWILLIAMS, RESPONDENTS
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Florida appealed a trial court order permitting defendants to use police photographic line-ups during depositions of state witnesses who identified the defendants from those line-ups. The appellate court denied the State's petition for rehearing, distinguishing the case from prior precedent and holding that questioning witnesses about actual police line-ups at deposition does not violate discovery rules.
The trial court's order is proper because it involved use of actual police photo line-ups (not defense-created arrays) for the legitimate purpose of questioning witnesses about the identification procedure and identifications made, which is consistent with the purpose of criminal discovery and distinguishable from Kuntsman.
[1] A trial court may permit defense counsel to use actual police photographic line-ups during the deposition of state witnesses who made out-of-court identifications.
[2] The purpose of using actual police photographic line-ups during depositions is to question witnesses about the identification procedure and the identifications made, not…
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“the trial judge "was not authorized to compel the prosecution witnesses to view the [defense-made] photo array, absent a showing by the defendants that strong or compelling reasons justified the order"”
Establishes the standard from Kuntsman for defense-created photo arrays requiring strong or compelling reasons
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDuring a police investigation, two separate photographic line-ups were created containing photographs of defendants John McWilliams and Darrell McWill…
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FLETCHER, Judge.
The State has moved for a rehearing of the order denying its petition for writ of certiorari. For the following reasons we deny the State’s rehearing motion.
During the police investigation herein two separate photographic line-ups were created by the police. One line-up contained a photograph of defendant John McWilliams, the other line-up contained a photograph of defendant Darrell McWil-liams. During the deposition of a state-listed witness, counsel for the defendants attempted to use these police photo lineups in the questioning of the deponent. The State objected and refused to allow the deponent to answer. The defense moved the trial court for an order permitting them to use the police photo line-ups in depositions of all state witnesses who made an (alleged) out-of-court identification of the defendants. The trial court ruled that the defendants could use the police photo line-ups in the depositions of those state witnesses who identified either defendant from them.
It is this ruling that the State has sought to quash, taking the position that this court’s decision in State v. Kuntsman, 643 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) requires quashal of the trial court’s ruling. Huntsman, however, dealt with an entirely different situation wherein the defense put together its own photo “line-up” which contained thirty-eight black and white photographs, four of which were of the Kunts-man defendants. At deposition the State objected to the use of the photo array and the deponent refused to view or answer questions regarding it. At the defense’s request, the trial court ordered all prosecution witnesses to view ahd respond to questions concerning the private photo array. On review this court concluded that the trial judge “was not authorized to compel the prosecution witnesses to view the [defense-made] photo array, absent a showing by the defendants that strong or compelling reasons justified the order” (Kuntsman at 1173), and further concluded that no such showing had been made. Most important, this court determined that the trial court’s order improperly allowed the defendants an opportunity to build their cases during the discovery process by “creating” evidence (misidentifications). Such is contrary to the purpose of the criminal discovery process which is to avail the defense of evidence known to the State so that convictions will not be obtained by the suppression of evidence favorable to the defense or by surprise tactics in the courtroom.
Unlike Kuntsman, the instant case involved the actual police photo line-ups, not photo arrays prepared by the defense. The purpose herein of the use of the photo line-ups at deposition is not to create evidence. Rather it is to question the identifying witnesses about the actual photo line-up procedure, and to inquire about the identifications that were made — all perfectly routine and all consistent with Kuntsman.
Rehearing denied.
. We note that although defense counsel is free to question witnesses about the photographic line-up they viewed, he is not free to present the witness with the photo line-up and conduct a new identification proceeding. Accordingly, if the witness is handed the photographic line-up and asked which photograph he or she selected, the witness is free to review the exhibit in its entirety, including the reverse side of the individual photographs, to determine which photograph he or she initially selected.
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The Florida Bar v. Schwartz, 284 So. 3d 393 (Fla. 2019)…on, Schwartz’s co-counsel in representing Woodson (Judy McGuire), attorney Barry Wax (presented as an expert defense lawyer), and Schwartz, found that “[Schwartz] made a messy (but clearly not deceitful) effort to comply with State v. [Mc]Williams[, 817 So. 2d 1036 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)], with only black and white copies of the state’s photographic lineups that the state had given him in discovery.” Report of Referee, at 7. Turning to the alleged rule violations, the referee wrote that “a violation of Rule 4-8.4…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Huntsman, 643 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)