BARBARA SIMPSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Barbara Simpson appeals the trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss a trafficking in oxycodone charge. The appellate court affirms, applying the tipsy coachman rule because the State properly traversed Simpson's motion by specifically denying material facts alleged in support of her legal possession defense.
The trial court properly denied Simpson's motion to dismiss because the State filed a traverse that specifically denied material facts under oath, as required by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(d). The appellate court affirmed under the tipsy coachman rule without reaching the trial court's alternative reasoning regarding fraudulent procurement of the prescription.
[1] A motion to dismiss shall be denied if the state files a traverse that, with specificity, denies under oath the material fact or facts alleged in the motion to dismiss.
[2] An appellate court may affirm a trial court's judgment if the judgment is legally correct, regardless of the trial court's reasoning, under the tipsy coachman rule.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“A motion to dismiss ... shall be denied if the state files a traverse that, with specificity, denies under oath the material fact or facts alleged in the motion to dismiss.”
Establishes the procedural rule governing when a motion to dismiss must be denied when the State properly traverses it.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSimpson was approached by detectives at Fort Lauderdale International Airport who searched her purse and discovered oxycodone tablets in a pill box an…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Trafficking In Oxycodone cases and more on FLexlaw
Barbara Simpson appeals the trial court’s order denying her motion to dismiss. We affirm based on the tipsy coachman rule.1
While at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Simpson was approached by two detectives. The detectives conducted a search of her purse and discovered a pill box and burgundy change purse, both of which contained oxycodone tablets and other controlled substances. Based upon a combination of the controlled substances in her pill box and change purse, Simpson was charged with one count of trafficking in oxycodone, along with two other controlled substance offenses. Simpson subsequently filed a motion to dismiss as to two charges, one of which was trafficking in oxycodone.
In the motion, Simpson alleged that she and her husband had valid prescriptions for the oxycodone in her pill box and change purse, respectively, and that she was the custodian for her ill husband of the oxycodone in her change purse. The State responded with a traverse, specifically denying that Simpson’s husband had a valid prescription and that she was the custodian of the oxycodone in her change purse. The State further asserted in its traverse that Simpson’s prescription was invalid because she fraudulently obtained it by not telling her prescribing doctor about a previously-issued oxycodone prescription from another doctor. At the conclusion of the hearing on the motion to dismiss, the trial court denied the motion. The court found that Simpson unlawfully obtained her prescription by misrepresentation, constituting fraud. Simpson now appeals the trial court’s denial of her mo*778tion to dismiss only as to her trafficking in oxycodone charge and contends that the court erred in denying the motion because she legally possessed the oxycodone in her pill box under a valid prescription.
The standard of review of a trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss is de novo. State v. Santiago, 938 So.2d 603, 605 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (citing State v. Walthour, 876 So.2d 594, 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)). “A motion to dismiss ... shall be denied if the state files a traverse that, with specificity, denies under oath the material fact or facts alleged in the motion to dismiss.” Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.190(d) (emphasis added).
We affirm the trial court’s denial of Simpson’s motion to dismiss based on the tipsy coachman rule, see Kennard, 903 So.2d at 245-46, because the State specifically denied in its traverse that Simpson’s husband had a valid oxycodone prescription and that she was the custodian for her ill husband of the oxycodone in her change purse, see Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.190(d). At this stage, the State sufficiently traversed, specifically denying two material facts, and the trial court was required to deny the motion to dismiss because the State charged Simpson with only one count of trafficking in oxycodone. Accordingly, we need not address the trial court’s conclusion that Simpson unlawfully obtained her oxycodone prescription by misrepresentation.
Affirmed.
HAZOURI, J., concurs.
FARMER, J., concurs specially with opinion.
concurring specially.
I do not agree that the trial judge correctly denied the motion for the wrong reason. I do agree that he correctly considered the traverse sufficient to defeat the motion to dismiss. This case presents no occasion for the Applegate rule.2
Because defendant has entered pleas and been sentenced on the charge, there are no further proceedings to be had. So this case has proceeded beyond the pretrial stage to final judgment. Accordingly I would address defendant’s contention that the final sentence from his order denying the motion to dismiss is improper.
In deciding a motion to dismiss a criminal charge, rule 3.1903 neither requires nor permits the judge to engage in fact finding. The court simply lays the traverse beside the charging document and motion to dismiss, ascertaining whether the traverse properly appears to deny critical facts involved. In this sense it is different from a motion to suppress where the judge is called upon to take testimony and resolve factual conflicts.
The motion to dismiss simply required the judge to make a legal determination about the effect of the traverse. His gratuitous “finding” that defendant was guilty of fraud in obtaining the prescription is a *779legal nullity. We should strike it from the order.
FARMER, J.,
concurring specially.
I do not agree that the trial judge correctly denied the motion for the wrong reason. I do agree that he correctly considered the traverse sufficient to defeat the motion to dismiss. This case presents no occasion for the Applegate rule.2
Because defendant has entered pleas and been sentenced on the charge, there are no further proceedings to be had. So this case has proceeded beyond the pretrial stage to final judgment. Accordingly I would address defendant’s contention that the final sentence from his order denying the motion to dismiss is improper. In deciding a motion to dismiss a criminal charge, rule 3.1903 neither requires nor permits the judge to engage in fact finding. The court simply lays the traverse beside the charging document and motion to dismiss, ascertaining whether the traverse properly appears to deny critical facts involved. In this sense it is different from a motion to suppress where the judge is called upon to take testimony and resolve factual conflicts.
The motion to dismiss simply required the judge to make a legal determination about the effect of the traverse. His gratuitous “finding” that defendant was guilty of fraud in obtaining the prescription is a legal nullity. We should strike it from the order. . Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 3,77 So. 2d 1150, 1152 (Fla.1979) ("The written final judgment by the trial court could well be wrong in its reasoning, but the decision of the trial court is primarily what matters, not the reasoning used”). For me it is long past the time for retiring that lamentable locution, "Tipsy Coachman Rule.” To paraphrase John Ford, when the cliché becomes law, judges seem to print the cliché. It is as dubious and inartful a metaphor as I have ever heard. Anyway it takes less wind or fewer words to say Applegate.
. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.190(c)(4),(d).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Knipp v. State, 67 So. 3d 376 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)…drug trafficking charges, we also affirm. The State agreed below that both Knipp and Kiser possessed a prescription issued by a licensed practitioner in the normal course of business. The State argues, however, that our opinion in Simpson v. State, 33 So. 3d 776 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), mandates a reversal. Simpson is distinguished from the present cases, because the traverse in Simpson created an issue of fact. The traverse in this case does not create an issue of fact. [*380] Rather, the traverse disputes an…
-
Richard Derouin & KIM Derouin v. Universal Am. Mortg. Co., LLC, 254 So. 3d 595 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)
-
West v. West, 126 So. 3d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)…tension of time to file an independent action in the civil division. The trial court agreed, however, to enter a final appealable order. From this order, the personal representative now appeals. We review dismissal orders de novo. Simpson v. State, 33 So. 3d 776, 778 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). The single question we answer is whether the trial court should have transferred the case to the civil division. The answer is yes. In 2008, the chief judge of the Fifteenth Circuit signed Administrative Order 6.102-9/08,…
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
- State v. Walthour, 876 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
- State v. Jayson Santiago, 938 So. 2d 603 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
- Orie Kennard v. State, 903 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)