DEBRA A. JEFFERSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2002-03-06
No. 1D00-3694
ALLEN, C.J., and BOOTH J., concur.
818 So. 2d 565 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2002) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Debra Jefferson was convicted of child abuse and aggravated child abuse. On direct appeal, she challenged admission of a time-lapse videotape depicting the offenses, but the court affirmed, finding the tape admissible as an accurate depiction of events.


Holding

The court held that time-lapse videotapes and copies thereof are not automatically excludable from evidence. The copy was properly admitted where an expert testified uncontradictedly that it accurately depicted the original, and the defense failed to establish that the copy was inaccurate or that information was added.


Headnotes

[1] A time lapse videotape, or a copy thereof, is admissible into evidence if it is an accurate depiction of what is on the original recording, even if the recording captures…

[2] A party objecting to the admission of a time lapse videotape must provide specific authority or explanation for why the frame rate renders the recording inaccurate or unf…

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Key Quotes

“We find no error in allowing in evidence a copy of a "time lapse" videotape over the objection that fewer frames per second in the original videotape (than standard videotaping entails) "inaccurately portray either the speed or the range of motion" by their very infrequency.”

Establishes the court's primary holding that time-lapse videotapes are admissible despite objections to frame rates

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Facts & Procedural History

Jefferson was convicted on two counts of child abuse and one count of aggravated child abuse under Florida law. The prosecution introduced a videotape…

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Opinion of the Court
BENTON, J.

BENTON, J.

Debra A. Jefferson brings this direct appeal from her convictions on two counts of child abuse in violation of section 827.03(1), Florida Statutes (1999), and one count of aggravated child abuse in violation of section 827.03(2), Florida Statutes (1999). We write to address only her contention that the trial court should not have let the jury see a videotape depicting the offenses, and affirm the convictions.

We find no error in allowing in evidence a copy of a “time lapse” videotape over the objection that fewer frames per second in the original videotape (than standard videotaping entails) “inaccurately portray either the speed or the range of motion” by their very infrequency. See Grand Casino Biloxi v. Hallmark, No.2000-01115, — So. 2d -, -, 2001 WL 1336465, *4 (Miss. Oct.31, 2001) (en banc) (“The video was a time lapse camera recording, so Agent Hancock could see the candle on top of the machine flashing, but he could not determine the actual speed of the flashing candle.”).

Although the prosecution put the original videotape in evidence in the present case, the defense did not request that the jury be shown the original videotape, and objected to the copy solely on grounds that the original time lapse videotape, by “taking one-third of the images, under the time lapse, as you would with the real time, ... [resulted in] a difference in how the action is displayed.”

Appellant cites no authority for her blanket objection to time lapse videotapes and copies thereof. Nor does she explain why ten frames per second are too few or thirty frames per second enough. The copy the jury saw, moreover, did have thirty frames per second, and the trial judge found, on the basis of uncontrovert-ed expert testimony, that the copy was “an accurate depiction of what’s on” the original. See State v. Hoffman, 768 So. 2d 542, 564 (La.2000).

No issue was raised concerning the copy’s fidelity to the original. Cf. Bryant v. State, 810 So. 2d 532, 537-39, (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). Defense counsel stated, “My concern is ... what was not originally captured in the filming and how that will affect the display that this jury is going to see.” Defense counsel “never made any allegation there was anything added.”

Each case in which a time lapse videotape or a copy thereof has been received in evidence over objection supports affirming here. See United States v. Beeler, 62 F. Supp. 2d 136, 148 (D.Me.1999); Ex parte Rieber, 663 So. 2d 999, 1007-08 (Ala.1995). Cases in which no objection to such tapes was noted also support the view that time lapse videotapes are not automatically excludable. See State v. King, 180 Ariz. 268, 883 P. 2d 1024, 1026 (1994) (en banc); Walker v. State, 262 Ga. 694, 424 S.E. 2d 782, 783 (1993); Commonwealth v. Pleas, 49 Mass.App.Ct. 321, 729 N.E. 2d 642, 644 (2000); State v. Coleman, 342 S.C. 172, 536 S.E. 2d 387, 388 (App.2000).

Affirmed.

ALLEN, C.J., and BOOTH J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Amato Scott v. State, 151 So. 3d 567 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)
    …ts to support the trial court’s findings. To the contrary, a de novo standard of review is applied to findings of law. Delhall v. State, 95 So. 3d 134, 150 (Fla.2012). A ruling on a motion to suppress is reviewed for harmless error. Amparo v. State, 818 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). General Rule as to Voluntariness In Deviney v. State, 112 So. 3d 57, 74 (Fla.2013), the supreme court determined [*574] that the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 9 of the Florida Constitu…
  • Smith v. GEICO Cas. Co., 127 So. 3d 808 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)
    …a predicate for its admission that the [videotape] fairly and accurately represents what it purports to depict.” Id. at 536. Furthermore, the time-lapse nature of a video does not make the video per se inadmissible. See generally Jefferson v. State, 818 So. 2d 565, 566 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (“Each case in which a time[-]lapse videotape or a copy thereof has been received in evidence over objection supports affirming here. Cases in which no objection to such tapes was noted also support the view that time[-]laps…

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