SYNDI R. TRACTON A/K/A CINDY TRACTON, APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH AND REGINA C. SIEDENTOPF, APPELLEES
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Tracton appeals a jury verdict against her in a false arrest action, challenging the trial court's exclusion of her blood-alcohol test results and DUI videotape taken two hours after arrest. The appellate court held that exclusion of this relevant evidence was reversible error and reversed for a new trial.
The court held that exclusion of the BAL test results and DUI videotape was error; the delay in testing went to the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility. The error was not harmless because these were the only nontestimonial evidence available to establish the non-existence of probable cause, and a reasonable probability existed that the result might have been different had the evidence been admitted.
[1] The results of a blood-alcohol test administered approximately two hours after an arrest are admissible as evidence, with any delay in submission going to the weight of t…
[2] Exclusion of relevant scientific evidence, such as blood-alcohol test results and a DUI videotape, can constitute reversible error in a false arrest action.
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“It is agreed that the exclusion of the results of the appellant's Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) test, administered approximately two hours after her arrest, was error. The fact of a delay in submitting to the test went to the weight to be given that evidence by the jury and not to its admissibility.”
Establishes that delays in BAL testing affect evidentiary weight, not admissibility, overturning the trial court's ruling
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTracton's vehicle was rear-ended by a drunk driver while she braked to avoid a dog; her jeep rolled over at least one and a half times. Minutes after …
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PER CURIAM.
In this appeal from an order issued pursuant to an adverse jury verdict in an action for false arrest, Tracton raises as reversible error the trial court’s exclusion of the results of her blood-alcohol test and a DUI videotape of Tracton made two hours after her arrest. We agree that the erroneous exclusion of this relevant evidence was reversible error. Tracton’s vehicle was rear-ended by a drunk driver when she braked to avoid hitting a dog in the road. The impact of the crash caused Tracton’s small jeep-like vehicle to spin around and roll over at least one and a half times. Minutes after emerging from the vehicle, still shaken, she was questioned by Officer Siedentopf, a traffic-accident investigator. Siedentopf noted that Tracton’s eyes were bloodshot and that her breath smelled of alcohol. Tracton admitted that she had a drink at a party earlier in the evening. Siedentopf then subjected Tracton to roadside tests designed to assess her coordination and equilibrium. Siedentopf later testified that she had Tracton perform the tests just five to seven minutes after the roll-over, even though the officer customarily allowed a roll-over victim fifteen minutes to recover before conducting coordination tests. Following a heated verbal exchange with the police officer, Tracton was arrested and jailed based on a poor performance of the tests. No charges were ever filed.
Tracton brought this action against Officer Siedentopf and the City of Miami Beach for false arrest. The court granted Sieden-topf’s motion in limine to exclude, as irrelevant, the results of Tracton’s blood alcohol test and a DUI videotape taken approximately two hours after the arrest. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Sieden-topf. Tracton moved for a directed verdict or new trial contending that the exclusion of scientific evidence relevant to the issue of her impairment was error. The motion was denied; Tracton appeals. It is agreed that the exclusion of the results of the appellant's Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) test, administered approximately two hours after her arrest, was error. The fact of a delay in submitting to the test went to the weight to be given that evidence by the jury and not to its admissibility. See Miller v. State, 597 So. 2d 767 (Fla.1991) (result of blood alcohol test taken an hour and twenty minutes after defendant last operated motor vehicle is admissible evidence); Gallagher v. State, 606 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (a two-hour and twenty-two minutes old test is admissible).
Because the BAL test results, along with a DUI videotape which was also erroneously excluded, were the only nontestimonial evidence available to the plaintiff to establish the nonexistence of probable cause, we cannot agree that the exclusion of those items was harmless. An error cannot be deemed harmless where, as here, there is a reasonable probability that but for the error a result more favorable to the appellant may have been reached. Katos v. Cushing, 601 So. 2d 612 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (test for harmful error is whether, but for such error, a different result may have been reached).
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ., concur.
JORGENSON, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In my view, the trial court properly excluded Tracton’s blood alcohol tests and videotape. The evidence was not relevant to the issue of whether the officer had probable cause immediately following the accident to arrest Tracton for driving under the influence.
A plaintiff must prove three elements to sustain a claim for false arrest. First, there must be an unlawful detention and deprivation of liberty against a person’s will. Kanner v. First Nat’l Bank of South Miami, 287 So. 2d 715 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). Secondly, the detention must be unreasonable and not warranted by the circumstances. City of Miami v. Albro, 120 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 3d DCA 1960). Thirdly, the detention must be intentional. Johnson v. Weiner, 155 Fla. 169, 19 So. 2d 699 (1944). Probable cause may be raised as an affirmative defense to a claim for false arrest. Lee v. Geiger, 419 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), rev. denied, 429 So. 2d 5 (Fla.1983).1
In this case Officer Siedentopf observed that Tracton’s eyes were bloodshot, and smelled alcohol on Tracton’s breath, both of which are signs of intoxication. See, e.g., State v. Edwards, 463 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 471 So. 2d 43 (Fla.1985). The officer’s professional opinion at the accident scene was that Tracton failed the roadside sobriety test. Regardless of what occurred two hours after the arrest, the record indicates that the jury acted reasonably in finding that Siedentopf had probable cause to arrest Tracton. See Spicy v. City of Miami, 280 So. 2d 419 (Fla.1973) (probable cause must be established at the time of arrest without reliance on a third party’s subsequent determination), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1131, 94 S.Ct. 869, 38 L.Ed.2d 755 (1974). See also City of Hialeah v. Rehm, 455 So. 2d 458 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (in determining whether probable cause to arrest existed, subsequent determination of guilt or innocence not relevant), rev. denied, 462 So. 2d 1107 (Fla.1985).
In holding that the trial court erred in excluding the videotape and the blood alcohol tests, the court mistakenly relies on Miller v. State, 597 So. 2d 767 (Fla.1991). In Miller, the Florida Supreme Court held that in a criminal prosecution for driving under the influence, defendant’s blood alcohol test taken one hour and twenty minutes after he was stopped was admissible. “[T]he ability of the State to 'relate back’ blood-alcohol evidence to the time the defendant was driving a vehicle is a question of credibility and weight-of-the-evidence, not of admissibility, provided the test is conducted within a reasonable time after the defendant is stopped.” Miller, 597 So. 2d at 770. This case, however, does not turn on whether the excluded evidence tended to show that Ms. Tracton was legally drunk when stopped, but whether it had any bearing on whether Officer Siedentopf had probable cause to arrest her based upon his roadside observations. Miller, therefore, is not dispositive.
Because probable cause is determined at the time of the arrest, blood alcohol tests and a videotape taken two hours later are not relevant to that issue, and were properly excluded.
I would affirm.
. Probable cause exists when a reasonable person trained as a police officer would come to the conclusion, based on the facts, that an offense was committed by the subject. State v. Maya, 529 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988).
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Blasco v. State, 680 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)…o hours after the accident and as such, was patently unreasonable. In reliance upon Miller, however, this court has specifically found a two hour delay in administering a blood alcohol test not to be unreasonable. See Tracton v. City of Miami Beach, 616 So. 2d 457, 458 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)(finding the exclusion of results of appellant’s blood alcohol level test administered approximately two hours after her arrest to be error; the fact of a delay went to the weight rather than admissibility of the evidence), re…
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Syndi R. Tracton v. The City OF Miami Beach & Regina C. Siedentopf, 657 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…PER CURIAM. Following our opinion and decision reported as Tracton v. City of Miami Beach and Siedentopf, 616 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992), the matter recurred in the trial court on the appellee’s motion for summary judgment, and the court entered a summary judgment for the defendant police officer. We reverse. A trial court cannot deviate from our earlier opinion an…
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Mauro v. Deer Park Spring Water, Inc., 667 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)…trial court should admit evidence of both parties’ alcohol consumption if proferred, as this issue is relevant to the cause of the accident. § 90.402, Fla.Stat. (1995); see Brackin v. Boles, 452 So. 2d 540 (Fla.1984); Tracton v. City of Miami Beach, 616 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992), rev. denied sub nom. Siedentopf v. Tracton, 626 So. 2d 207 (Fla.1993); Thunderbird Drive-In Theatre, Inc. v. Reed, 571 So. 2d 1341 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), rev. denied, 577 So. 2d 1328 (Fla.1991). Additionally, appellees can amend th…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (14 total)
- Johnson v. Meyer Weiner also known as M. Weiner, 155 Fla. 169 (Fla. 1944)
- Katos v. Robert B. Cushing, D.D.S. & Robert B. Cushing, D.D.S., P.A., 601 So. 2d 612 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- City OF Miami v. Albro, 120 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 3d DCA 1960)
- Lewis v. Harper, 120 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960)
- State v. Maya, 529 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)
- LEE v. Geiger, 419 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)
- The City OF Hialeah v. Rehm, 455 So. 2d 458 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
- City of Miami v. Spicy, 414 U.S. 1131 (U.S. 1974)
- Woodall Indus., Inc. v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 414 U.S. 1131 (U.S. 1974)
- Spicy v. City OF Miami, 280 So. 2d 419 (Fla. 1973)