WALTER L. ARBOGAST, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Walter Arbogast appealed the denial of his post-conviction motion challenging his 1971 jury conviction for possession of a stolen motor vehicle and resisting an officer without violence. The court rejected his claim that the prosecutor violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by using his silence during police custody for impeachment purposes, but found error in sentencing him to one year in state penitentiary for the misdemeanor of resisting arrest without violence.
The court held that under the law in effect at the time of trial, the prosecutor's use of Arbogast's silence for impeachment purposes did not violate his Fifth Amendment rights, and therefore affirmed the denial of his post-conviction motion. However, the court found error in sentencing Arbogast to one year in state penitentiary for resisting arrest without violence, which is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in county jail.
[1] New rulings on the admissibility of a defendant's silence for impeachment purposes are not applied retrospectively to convictions that have already become final.
[2] Prior to Doyle v. …
Previewing 2 of 4 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“where the defendant takes the stand, he places himself in the position of any other witness and where there is an inconsistency between silence and testimony, the prosecuting attorney for impeachment purposes has the right to comment as defendant's failure to deny or explain incriminating facts to the police”
Establishes the rule under pre-Doyle law allowing prosecution to use defendant's silence for impeachment when defendant testifies
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceArbogast was tried by jury in June 1971 and convicted of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and resisting an officer without violence. During trial,…
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HAVERFIELD, Judge.
Defendant, Walter L. Arbogast, was tried by a jury in June 1971 and found guilty of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and resisting an officer without violence to his person. On direct appeal to this court, his conviction was affirmed. Arbogast v. State, 266 So. 2d 161 (Fla.3d DCA 1972). On August 25,1975 defendant, pursuant to Fla. R.Crim.P. 3.850, filed a motion to vacate judgment and sentence on the ground that during his cross-examination his right against self-incrimination was violated when the prosecutor for impeachment purposes elicited testimony from him about his failure to give exculpatory statements to the police while in custody, and he was denied effective assistance of court appointed counsel when counsel failed to object on constitutional grounds. The trial judge denied the motion and defendant perfected this appeal.
To support his contention of violation of his right against self-incrimination, defendant cites U. S. Supreme Court rulings in United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171, 95 S.Ct. 2133, 45 L.Ed.2d 99 (1975), and more recently Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976) holding that the use for impeachment purposes of a defendant’s silence at the time of arrest and after receiving Miranda warnings violates the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. These cases are of no aid and comfort to the defendant because these decisions were rendered several years after he was tried and convicted and we will not give this new ruling retrospective application. See Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 86 S.Ct. 1772, 16 L.Ed.2d 882 (1966); Tehan v. Shott, 382 U.S. 406, 86 S.Ct. 459, 15 L.Ed.2d 453 (1966).
The question then is whether or not under previous case law defendant’s right against self-incrimination was violated. We answer this query in the negative. Previous to the holding in Doyle, supra the rule of law in this jurisdiction has been that where the defendant takes the stand, he places himself in the position of any other witness and where there is an inconsistency between silence and testimony, the prosecuting attorney for impeachment purposes has the right to comment as defendant’s failure to deny or explain incriminating facts to the police. See Reilly v. State, 212 So. 2d 796 (Fla.3d DCA 1968); Lebowitz v. State, 313 So. 2d 473 (Fla.3d DCA 1975); Williams v. State, 320 So. 2d 434 (Fla.3d DCA 1975).
Defendant has failed to demonstrate fundamental error and further has not shown that his trial was a mockery or a farce. See Quesada v. State, 321 So. 2d 442 (Fla.3d DCA 1975). Accordingly, we affirm the denial of his motion for post-judgment relief.
Defendant also filed a motion to vacate sentence on the ground that the trial court incorrectly sentenced him to serve one year in the state penitentiary on his conviction for resisting arrest without violence. This motion was denied. We find error in the sentence as resisting arrest without violence is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment not exceeding one year in the county jail. Sections 843.02, 775.082(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1971).
Accordingly, we remand the case to the trial court to amend the sentence as to resisting arrest without violence to read that defendant serve one year in the county jail, sentence to begin immediately at the expiration of the sentence imposed for possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
It is so ordered.
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719 (U.S. 1966)
- Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610 (U.S. 1976)
- Tehan v. United States ex rel. Shott, 382 U.S. 406 (U.S. 1966)
- United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171 (U.S. 1975)
- Lebowitz v. State, 313 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
- Reilly v. State, 212 So. 2d 796 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968)
- Arbogast v. State, 266 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972)
- Delfin Quesada v. State, 321 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
- Williams v. State, 320 So. 2d 434 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)