LEE ALBERT ANSLEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1974-11-05
No. U-381
RAWLS, C. J., concurs., McCORD, J., specially concurring.
302 So. 2d 797 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1974) Positive Treatment
Cited by 15 cases

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.

Synopsis

Lee Albert Ansley appeals his conviction for cannabis possession exceeding five grams, challenging the admission of undisclosed witness testimony and an expert's opinion on drug weight without quantitative analysis. The appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding no reversible error on either issue.


Holding

The court affirmed on both points. A trial judge's careful inquiry into potential prejudice from nondisclosure of witnesses, followed by a specific ruling denying the objection, constitutes an implicit finding of nonprejudice even without an explicit statement on the record. The expert's opinion testimony on weight was properly admitted and was subject to jury credibility determinations; the undisputed evidence of 11 grams total weight, combined with expert testimony that more than half was cannabis, sufficiently established the charge.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's careful inquiry into the circumstances of a discovery violation and subsequent ruling on an objection to a witness's testimony constitutes a determination…

[2] The failure to explicitly state a finding of nonprejudice on the record after a discovery violation is harmless error at most and does not require reversal.

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Key Quotes

“A careful inquiry by the trial judge into the reasons for the failure to disclose the name of a witness and other matters relating to any potential prejudice as a result of such nondisclosure followed by a specific ruling denying or overruling an objection to the taking of the testimony of such witnesses on the ground that their names were not disclosed upon appropriate discovery constitutes, in and of itself, a finding and determination of nonprejudice.”

Establishes that explicit written findings of nonprejudice are not required when the trial court conducts and rules on a careful inquiry into nondisclosure.

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Facts & Procedural History

Ansley was charged with possessing more than five grams of cannabis. Two witnesses called by the State had not been disclosed to Ansley's second attor…

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Opinion of the Court
BOYER, Judge.

BOYER, Judge.

We here review an adjudication of guilt and resulting five year sentence following a verdict of guilty by a jury of the offense of possessing more than five grams of cannabis. Two points are raised by appellant.

First, appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting over appellant’s objection the testimony of two witnesses called by the State whose names had not been disclosed to defendant’s attorney in response to appropriate discovery pursuant to Rule 3.220(a) (1) (i) RCrP.

The record reveals that during the progress of the case the defendant, appellant here, changed attorneys. The names of the two witnesses was furnished to defendant’s first attorney but not to the second. Our review of the record reveals that the trial judge conducted a careful inquiry into the circumstances surrounding defense counsel’s objection to the calling of the witnesses and carefully complied with the requirements of Richardson v. State, Sup.Ct.Fla.1971, 246 So. 2d 771 and Ramirez v. State, Fla.App.4th 1970, 241 So. 2d 744.

Appellant contends that as a prerequisite to allowing the subject witnesses to testify the trial court was required, by the holdings of the above mentioned cases, to make and enter upon the record a specific determination that the defendant was not prejudiced by the State’s failure to disclose names of the subject witnesses to the defendant’s counsel. The State, appellee, on the other hand, urges that upon the trial court carefully and thoroughly inquiring into the matter, his mere overruling of defense counsel’s objection to the witnesses satisfies the requirements of said cases for the exercise of the trial court’s discretion.

We agree with the State and affirm as to the first point. Although it would be helpful and tend to avoid further litigation and appeals if the trial judge would, under such circumstances, dictate a specific finding into the record, the failure so to do is harmless error at most and does not furnish a ground for reversal. A careful inquiry by the trial judge into the reasons for the failure to disclose the name of a witness and other matters relating to any potential prejudice as a result of such nondisclosure followed by a specific ruling denying or overruling an objection to the taking of the testimony of such witnesses on the ground that their names were not disclosed upon appropriate discovery constitutes, in and of itself, a finding and determination of nonprejudice.

We now turn to appellant’s second point in which he urges that the trial court erred in permitting an expert witness called by the State to give an opinion as to the total weight of the cannabis when she had not conducted a quantitative analysis of the contents of its container. The defendant was charged with possession of more than five grams. Very simply, a prima facie showing of the offense consisted of proof of the existence of the substance and the weight thereof. To establish and carry its burden of proof, the State called an expert witness who testified that a sample of the substance tested positively revealed that it was cannabis; that the weight of the entire amount of the substance from whence the sample was taken weighed 11 grams and that, in her opinion, more than half of the entire substance was cannabis. That opinion testimony, like any other testimony, was subject to be believed or disbelieved by the trier of the fact, in this case the jury. The defendant, appellant here, under our liberal rules of discovery had every opportunity to inspect, examine or test the substance either quantitatively or qualitatively, or both, and present such findings at the trial. (Johnson v. State, Fla.App.3rd 1971, 249 So. 2d 470) He did not do so and the testimony of the State’s expert witness stood uncontradicted.

The evidence was clear that the weight of the total substance was 11 grams. If “more than half” was cannabis (as was testified to by the expert) then a fortiori the weight of the cannabis exceeded five grams. No sophisticated mathematics is required to arrive at such a conclusion.

The appellant having failed to demonstrate reversible error, the judgment and sentence appealed are

Affirmed.

RAWLS, C. J., concurs.

McCORD, J., specially concurring.

Concurrence
McCORD, Justice

McCORD, Justice

(specially concurring).

An examination of the testimony of the two witnesses who were called by the state over objection of the defendant reveals that it was not of such nature that the defendant was prejudiced by the state’s failure to disclose the witnesses names to defendant’s attorney prior to trial. The testimony of the two witnesses only related to the chain of custody of an exhibit. While I would not condone the state’s willful violation of Rule 3.220(a)(1) (i), F.R.Cr.P., the record shows that in this instance the state’s failure to comply with the rule was inadvertent.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Kilpatrick v. State, 376 So. 2d 386 (Fla. 1979)
    …. The court is not required to enter specific findings on the record so long as there is inquiry, the circumstances supporting the court’s exercise of discretion appear on the record, and there is a specific ruling on the objection. Ansley v. State, 302 So. 2d 797 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). I would hold that the trial court, having inquired into the surrounding circumstances, exercised its discretion reasonably in deciding that no prejudice to the defendant would result from allowing the testimony despite a techni…
  • Wilkerson v. State, 461 So. 2d 1376 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
    …s failure to call the inquiry a “Richardson ” hearing or to make formal findings concerning each of the pertinent Richardson considerations does not constitute reversible error. Baker v. State, 438 So. 2d 905 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); and Ansley v. State, 302 So. 2d 797 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). Next, we address the question of whether the trial court abused its discretion in imposing the extreme sanction of exclusion of David and Andy’s testimony on the grounds that the State was prejudiced by appellant’s response to…
  • Mower v. State, 308 So. 2d 586 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)
    …ence investigation or imposing sentence, as the case may be, sufficiently reflects his determination in that regard if there is a sufficient basis in the record to sustain the trial judge’s subsequent actions. (See Ansley v. State, Fla.App.1st 1974, 302 So. 2d 797) The judgment and sentence appealed are affirmed. RAWLS, C. J., and McCORD, J., concur.…

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