Brunson v. State

31 So. 3d 926, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 4193, 2010 WL 1347321
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 31, 2010
Docket1D08-1047
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 31 So. 3d 926 (Brunson 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
Brunson v. State, 31 So. 3d 926, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 4193, 2010 WL 1347321 (Fla. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

[928]*928WOLF, J.

Appellant seeks review of his conviction for trafficking in cocaine. Appellant raises seven issues on appeal. We determine one issue requires reversal. Specifically, under the unique facts of this case, we find the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion in limine precluding defense counsel from asking appellant whether he had ever been arrested. We also address two other issues to provide guidance to the trial court on remand.

Appellant was stopped while driving and after consenting to a search of his vehicle, the arresting officer found approximately 270 grams of cocaine in individually wrapped plastic baggies in the center console of his vehicle. The entire stop and search of the vehicle was videotaped by a camera mounted on the officer’s "windshield. On the videotape, the officer can be heard asking appellant if he had ever been arrested. At the time the question was asked, appellant was off camera, but the audio feed of the tape evidenced no audible response to the question. At trial, the State chose to play the entire video of the stop for the jury and presented it with a transcript of the taped conversation. The video and the transcript included the unanswered question regarding appellant’s prior arrest history.

Further, at trial the State admitted, over appellant’s objection, evidence establishing appellant was carrying $1000 in cash on his person at the time he was arrested. At the close of the State’s evidence, appellant announced his intention to testify. At this point, the State filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude any questioning regarding appellant’s lack of a prior arrest record. Appellant asserted he was entitled to clear up any confusion regarding whether he had been previously arrested because the State had created an ambiguity on the issue by playing the tape of the stop in its entirety. Disagreeing with appellant, the trial court granted the State’s motion in limine. In his testimony, appellant asserted he had no knowledge of the cocaine in his vehicle and that several individuals had access to his car in the days preceding the stop. The jury convicted appellant as charged.

The first issue we address is whether the State opened the door to otherwise inadmissible evidence when it chose to play the entire videotape recording of the traffic stop which ended with appellant’s arrest. We hold the contents of the videotape opened the door for appellant to present evidence regarding his lack of an arrest history. Thus, we conclude the trial court erred in barring this evidence, and because this error was not harmless, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

A trial court’s ruling on an evi-dentiary issue is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Hudson v. State, 992 So.2d 96, 109 (Fla.2008). Ordinarily, evidence that appellant had never been arrested would be inadmissible in Florida. See Welch v. State, 940 So.2d 1244 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); Wrobel v. State, 410 So.2d 950, 951 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). However, “ ‘[a]s an evidentiary principle, the concept of ‘opening the door’ allows the admission of otherwise inadmissible testimony to ‘qualify, explain, or limit’ testimony or evidence previously admitted. The concept of ‘opening the door’ is ‘based on considerations of fairness and the truth-seeking function of a trial.’ ” Lawrence v. State, 846 So.2d 440, 452 (Fla.2003) (quoting Rodriguez v. State, 753 So.2d 29, 42 (Fla.2000)). This principle is triggered when one party’s evidence presents “an incomplete picture” and fairness demands the opposing party be allowed to “follow up in order to claiify ... and make it complete.” Hudson, 992 So.2d at 110. See Crumbie v. State, 16 So.3d 893, 895 (Fla. 1st DCA [929]*9292009); Washington v. State, 758 So.2d 1148, 1155 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); James v. State, 388 So.2d 35, 36 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).

In this case, the State opened the door to evidence of appellant’s lack of arrest history when it played the entire videotape of the stop for the jury. The State, by planting the officer’s unanswered question in the minds of the jury, a question otherwise barred by the rules of evidence, created the misimpression appellant had been previously arrested. Benefited by this negative inference and anticipating appellant would try to rebut it, the State then moved in limine to exclude any evidence relating to the subject of appellant’s arrest history. The evidentiary principle of “opening the door” protects the goals of fairness and truth-seeking permeating a trial from being overcome by these kinds of adversarial games. The trial court eri'ed by not granting appellant an opportunity to “ ‘qualify, explain, or limit’ ” the incomplete picture depicted in the videotape and clarify for the jury whether he had been previously arrested.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Noack v. State
260 So. 3d 1172 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
Marvin E. Noack v. State of Florida
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018
Kelvin D. Madison v. State of Florida
260 So. 3d 464 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)
United States v. Jason Lydell Orr
705 F. App'x 892 (Eleventh Circuit, 2017)
Redd v. State
49 So. 3d 329 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
Brunson v. State
31 So. 3d 926 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 So. 3d 926, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 4193, 2010 WL 1347321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brunson-v-state-fladistctapp-2010.