THE STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
MARTIN FILIPOWICH, RESPONDENT
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Florida sought certiorari review of a trial court order excluding state witness testimony based on discovery violations. The appellate court held that while the state was slightly late in producing a prisoner-witness for defense deposition and failed to file an amended discovery response with an updated address, the exclusion penalty was too drastic because the defendant suffered no prejudice.
The court held that exclusion was too drastic a remedy because the defendant was not prejudiced by these technical discovery violations. While a trial court ordinarily lacks authority to order the state to produce a witness for defense deposition, the rule may differ for prisoner-witnesses subject to court order. Here, the state substantially complied with the production order, and the short delay caused no prejudice.
[1] Exclusion of a witness's trial testimony is too drastic a remedy for technical discovery violations when the defendant is not prejudiced by those violations.
[2] A trial court ordinarily lacks authority to order the state to produce a witness for a defense discovery deposition, and failure to comply with such an order does not pro…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We conclude that the penalty of exclusion was too drastic a remedy for the technical discovery violations in this case because the defendant was not prejudiced by these violations.”
States the core holding that disproportionate sanctions violate discovery rules when no actual prejudice exists.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe state failed to timely produce a witness (a prisoner in the state correctional system) for a defense discovery deposition as ordered by the court,…
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PER CURIAM.
This is a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the state seeking review of a trial court order excluding the trial testimony of a state witness for an alleged discovery violation. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.220(j). We have jurisdiction to entertain this petition. State v. Pettis, 520 So. 2d 250, 253 (Fla.1988); State v. Cecil, 518 So. 2d 919 (Fla.1988); Art. V, § 4(b)(3), Fla. Const.; Fla.R. App.P. 9.030(b)(2).
As stated in the order under review, the legal basis for excluding the state witness was that (1) the state failed to produce the witness, who was apparently a prisoner in the state correctional system, for a defense discovery deposition at the time set by the court, and (2) the state failed to file an amended discovery response reflecting a changed address of the state witness within the state correctional system. We conclude that the penalty of exclusion was too drastic a remedy for the technical discovery violations in this case because the defendant was not prejudiced by these violations.
It appears, without dispute, that the witness was in fact produced by the state for a defense discovery deposition, but was a little over an hour late under the court order requiring production; there is no showing that the defendant could not have deposed the subject witness at the time the witness was produced. True, the case was scheduled to go to trial shortly after the witness was originally scheduled to be deposed, but the case was continued by the court in any event. The inaccurate address of the witness supplied by the state in no way prejudiced the defendant’s preparation of the case; the defendant did not attempt to depose the witness in advance of the scheduled trial date and was not otherwise misled by the inaccurate address.
Ordinarily, a trial court has no authority to order the state to produce a witness for a defense discovery deposition, and the failure of the state to comply with such an order affords no basis for excluding the witness’ testimony at trial. State v. Jackson, 436 So. 2d 985, 986 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); see State v. Adderly, 411 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Knight v. State, 373 So. 2d 52, 53 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), cert. denied, 385 So. 2d 761 (Fla.1980); see also State v. Mesa, 395 So. 2d 242, 243 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). Where, however, the witness, as here, is a prisoner in the state correctional system, the rule may very well be otherwise, and the witness perhaps may be subject to exclusion for noncompliance with such court order. In the instant case, however, the state substantially complied with the court order on witness production, and the defendant was not otherwise prejudiced by the short delay in producing the witness.
For the above-stated reasons, the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the order under review is quashed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Diamond, 553 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)…al of certiorari as an appropriate remedy for addressing an error of this kind, a review of the following cases should remove any such doubt: State v. Pettis, 520 So. 2d 250 (Fla.1988); State v. Cecil, 518 So. 2d 919 (Fla.1988); State v. Filipowich, 528 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1988). I can think of no more deserving case for the exercise of certiorari jurisdiction than this where there has clearly been a violation of established law resulting in a miscarriage of justice. Pettis, 520 So. 2d at 254. It is wort…
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State v. Sowers, 763 So. 2d 394 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)…is acquitted. Thus, we treat this appeal as if the State were seeking common-law certiorari relief. See, e.g., State v. Bradford, 658 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 5th [*399] DCA 1995); State v. Schwartz, 605 So. 2d 1000 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); State v. Filipowich, 528 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). To be entitled to certiorari relief, the State must demonstrate that the trial court’s order amounts to a violation of a clearly established principle of law, resulting in a miscarriage of justice. See Pettis, 520 So. 2d at 254;…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Pettis, 520 So. 2d 250 (Fla. 1988)
- State v. Mesa, 395 So. 2d 242 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- State v. Zeb Adderly, 411 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
- Knight v. State, 373 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)
- State v. Cecil, 518 So. 2d 919 (Fla. 1988)
- State v. Jackson, 436 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- Tole Elec. OF Fla. v. Mel Harris and Francine Harris, 436 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)