RICARDO MARVEN ST. JUSTE
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Fla. 3d DCA | 2022-03-23
No. 21-0258
Andrew, Paola
Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2022)

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Synopsis

Ricardo Marven St. Juste appeals his simple assault conviction, claiming the trial court abused its discretion in finding no discovery violation after a Richardson hearing. St. Juste argued the victim's trial testimony materially differed from her recorded police statement and that the State failed to disclose the victim was not a confidential informant. The court affirmed the conviction, finding no discovery violation occurred.


Holding

The court affirmed the conviction, finding no discovery violation occurred. The victim's trial testimony was not inconsistent with her recorded statement, and the State properly disclosed that no confidential informant information had been provided.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's determination that no discovery violation occurred is reviewed for abuse of discretion on appeal.

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Facts & Procedural History

St. Juste was convicted of simple assault. The victim provided a recorded, sworn statement to police and later testified at trial. St. Juste claimed t…

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Opinion of the Court

Opinion filed March 23, 2022. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________ No. 3D21-258 Lower Tribunal Nos. M19-23779 & 20-92 AC ________________ Ricardo Marven St. Juste,

Appellant,

vs.

The State of Florida,

Appellee.

An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Lizzet Martinez, Judge. Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and John Eddy Morrison, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Sonia Perez, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee. Before SCALES, MILLER and GORDO, JJ. PER CURIAM.

Ricardo Marven St. Juste appeals his conviction for simple assault, claiming the trial court abused its discretion by determining, after conducting a Richardson1 hearing, that the State had not committed a discovery violation.2 The grounds for the purported discovery violation are St. Juste’s claims that (i) the victim’s trial testimony materially differed from the victim’s recorded, sworn statement to the police, and (ii) the State failed to disclose to St. Juste that the victim was not a confidential informant.

With respect to the first claim, as reflected in the State’s answer brief – in which the State presents a side-by-side comparison between the victim’s trial testimony and the victim’s recorded, sworn statement – it is readily apparent that the victim’s trial testimony was not inconsistent with the victim’s recorded statement. As to the second claim, prior to trial, the State submitted discovery to St. Juste stating “[t]here is no material or information which has been provided by a confidential informant.”

On this record, we are unable to conclude that the State committed any discovery violation, much less that the trial court abused its discretion3 by coming to the same conclusion.

Affirmed.

Footnotes
1 Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1971). 2 See Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220(b).
3 Pender v. State, 700 So. 2d 664, 667 (Fla. 1997) (“[W]here a trial court rules that no discovery violation occurred, the reviewing court must first determine whether the trial court abused its discretion.”).

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