Blasco v. State

680 So. 2d 1052, 1996 WL 539072
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 25, 1996
Docket94-2970
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 680 So. 2d 1052 (Blasco v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blasco v. State, 680 So. 2d 1052, 1996 WL 539072 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

680 So.2d 1052 (1996)

Alberto BLASCO, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 94-2970.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

September 25, 1996.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Craig J. Trocino, Special Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Joni Braunstein, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before COPE, GREEN and FLETCHER, JJ.

FLETCHER, Judge.

Defendant Alberto Blasco has appealed his convictions for two counts of driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury and one count of driving under the influence causing personal injury. Blasco contends that because the court reporter's stenographic notes of the State's rebuttal witnesses were lost, and the reconstructed record is *1053 insufficient to provide meaningful appellate review, this Court should reverse the convictions and remand for a new trial. After careful consideration, we conclude that the defendant is entitled to a new trial.

During the defense's case-in-chief opinion testimony was received by the jury which conceivably could have raised a reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds. The State felt constrained to present witnesses in rebuttal to this defense opinion testimony. We shall never know whether it was this rebuttal testimony that led to the jury's verdicts or whether the defendant's opinion testimony was rejected for other reasons, thus, we cannot know the specific importance of the rebuttal. However, as the rebuttal testimony could have been the convincing factor of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, any error in regard thereto that was not harmless could have been the basis of reversal by this court (on proper appeal by Blasco). Unfortunately, because the notes are lost, and because the trial court's valiant attempt at reconstruction in the face of vague memories still leaves the record unresolved, we do not know, and are not capable of knowing, whether any reversible error was committed during rebuttal. For this reason we reverse the conviction and remand this matter for a new trial. See Rozier v. State, 669 So.2d 353 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996).

COPE, J., concurs.

GREEN, Judge, dissenting.

Based upon my review of the transcript of the trial from voir dire to sentencing, as well as the lower court's reconstructed record of the missing rebuttal testimony, I cannot agree that the record before us is insufficient for us to conclusively determine that no error occurred during the rebuttal phase of the trial which would have mandated a reversal of Blasco's convictions in this case.

Blasco was charged by information with two counts of driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury and one count of driving under the influence causing personal injury. These charges stemmed from a traffic accident occurring in Key West on January 24, 1994 at about 2:30 a.m. At the time, Blasco was driving his 1992 Acura Legend and crashed into a concrete wall while attempting to round a curve in the road. Blasco and his front seat passenger sustained relatively minor physical injuries as a result of this accident.[1] His two back seat passengers, however, sustained life threatening injuries.[2]

According to the transcript of the evidence adduced by the state in its case in chief, Blasco's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit at 0.13% some two hours after the crash. Blasco's passengers all testified that prior to the collision, Blasco had been playing a game of "tag" with another automobile driven by a Carlos Paez. When Paez passed Blasco, their testimony was that Blasco decided to "catch up" to pass Paez. Blasco's passengers also testified that Blasco had been travelling recklessly on the wrong side of the road and had increased his speed to at least 100 miles per hour. They further testified that they screamed at Blasco to slow his speed as he was approaching the wall on the curve, but to no avail. When it became evident to them that Blasco was going to drive into the wall, they fastened their seat belts and braced themselves for the crash.[3] They recalled seeing the car hit the wall, but after impact, they lost consciousness. Not one of these passengers testified that Blasco's air bag prematurely deployed prior to the car's impact with the wall.

Paez, the driver of the other car on the road, was called by the state to testify. Paez also testified that prior to the collision, Blasco was driving recklessly and at an excessive rate of speed. Paez further testified that Blasco did catch up with him and passed him. *1054 Paez estimated Blasco's speed to be approximately 130 miles per hour at the time, and Paez stated that he was concerned that Blasco would not make the curve at the end of the road as he saw no brake lights appear on Blasco's car prior to the crash.

A police officer on the scene also testified that there were no skid marks on the road to indicate any efforts by Blasco to brake prior to impact. Another police officer on the scene testified to a strong odor of alcohol on Blasco's breath and the presence of an alcoholic beverage in the car. This officer also testified that the cement wall was completely disintegrated after Blasco's car was pulled away from it. Finally, the state produced two witnesses who had seen Blasco approximately two to three hours prior to the crash. One of such witnesses saw Blasco with beer in his hand and opined that Blasco was intoxicated at the time. The other witness saw Blasco with a cup bearing the name of a local tavern in his hand, but admitted that she had no knowledge of the contents of the cup.

After the state rested, Blasco took the stand in this own defense. He admitted to consuming at least eight beers plus a "shot" of 90 proof crown royal liquor in the hours preceding the accident. He further admitted to racing with or engaging in a game of "tag" with Paez's automobile prior to the crash, but stated that he was going only 50-60 miles per hour when he approached the curve. He acknowledged that he was very familiar with the curve and intended to slow down but he suddenly blacked out or everything "went black or dark" on him. Interestingly, Blasco never testified that his air bag prematurely deployed on him even though that apparently was his defense at trial.[4] Blasco also testified that approximately four to six months prior to the accident, he was experiencing problems with the air bag light coming on but that he took the car in for repairs and the problem was apparently corrected.[5] Blasco further testified that after the accident, he noted that both the driver and front seat passenger's air bags had deployed and that his bloodied face had imprinted into the driver's air bag.

Blasco's estranged wife was then called by the defense. Mrs. Blasco testified that her husband had visited her shortly prior to the accident. While he was at her home, one of Blasco's male friends telephoned her to inquire, among other things, whether Blasco had arrived there "okay." Prior to visiting his wife, Blasco had been drinking beer with this friend. As a result of this call, the couple became embroiled in an argument and Blasco left. Mrs. Blasco further testified that she recalled that the air bag light had gone off in the Acura some months prior to the accident.

The final defense witness was David Potts, an accident reconstruction mechanic. Mr. Potts admittedly was not an engineer, has no specific training regarding air bags and has never measured air bags found in Acura Legends. Mr. Potts nevertheless opined *1055

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
680 So. 2d 1052, 1996 WL 539072, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blasco-v-state-fladistctapp-1996.