CITY OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
LINWOOD HERMAN NEWELL, RESPONDENT
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Florida appellate court reversed a circuit court's reversal of a DUI conviction, holding that a police officer's opinion testimony regarding impairment was properly admitted after the officer described the defendant's observable conduct and appearance.
A police officer's opinion testimony that a defendant was under the influence of intoxicating beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired is admissible when the officer has first described the defendant's acts, conduct, appearance, and statements.
[1] A police officer may testify to an opinion regarding a defendant's intoxication when the officer has first described the defendant's observable acts, conduct, appearance,…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The opinion testimony by the officer was properly admitted into evidence, Cannon v. State, 1926, 91 Fla. 214, 107 So. 360, and the circuit court erred in reversing the conviction.”
Court's explanation of why the officer's opinion was admissible and the circuit court's reversal was erroneous.
The defendant was arrested for driving while under the influence of intoxicating beverages. The municipal court convicted him, but the circuit court r…
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By petition for writ of certiorari we review an order of the Circuit Court of Orange County which reversed a judgment of conviction in the municipal court of the offense of driving while under the influence of intoxicating beverages to the extent that defendant’s normal faculties were impaired.
The circuit court reversed the conviction and granted the defendant a new trial because it was of the opinion that the municipal court had committed error in allowing into evidence, over objection, the opinion testimony of the arresting police officer to the effect that defendant was under the influence of intoxicating beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired. The transcript of the trial proceedings establishes that the arresting police officer, before expressing such opinion, described to the trial court the defendant’s acts, conduct, appearance and statements as seen and heard by the police officer. The opinion testimony by the officer was properly admitted into evidence, Cannon v. State, 1926, 91 Fla. 214, 107 So. 360, and the circuit court erred in reversing the conviction. Cf. City of Orlando v. Ford, Fla.App.1969, 220 So.2d 661.
The writ of certiorari is granted and the judgment and mandate of the circuit court are quashed and this cause remanded to that court for entry of an order affirming the judgment of conviction.
CROSS, C. J., and REED and OWEN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Meador, 674 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)…y as to their observations of a defendant’s acts, conduct, appearance and statements, but also to give opinion testimony of impairment based on their observations. See Cannon v. State, 91 Fla. 214, 107 So. 360, 362 (1926); City of Orlando v. Newell, 232 So. 2d 413 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). THE PSYCHOMOTOR FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS The threshold question is whether testimony concerning the results of field sobriety tests is to be treated as lay observations of intoxication or as scientific evidence of impairment. In h…
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Williams v. State, 710 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…heir observations of a defendant’s acts, conduct, and appearance, and also to give an opinion on the defendant’s state of impairment based on those observations. See, e.g., Cannon v. State, 91 Fla. 214, 107 So. 360 (1926); City of Orlando v. Newell, 232 So. 2d 413 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). Objective observations based on observable signs and conditions are not clas [*29] sified as “scientific” and thus constitute admissible testimony. For example, in State v. Meador, 674 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied,…
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Cardoso v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2022)…lay witnesses have long been permitted to testify as to their observations of a defendant’s acts, conduct, and appearance, and also to give an opinion on the defendant’s state of impairment based on those observations.”); City of Orlando v. Newell, 232 So. 2d 413, 413 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970) (holding that where police officer in prosecution for driving under influence of intoxicating beverages described to trial court, before expressing opinion, the defendant’s acts, conduct, appearance and statements as seen an…
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
- Cannon v. State, 107 So. 360 (Fla. 1926)
- City OF Orlando v. Ford, 220 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969)