Mason v. State

375 So. 2d 1125
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided October 4, 1979·No. LL-289·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

375 So.2d 1125 (1979)

William S. MASON, III, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. LL-289.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

October 4, 1979.
Rehearing Denied November 6, 1979.

*1126 Gene T. Moss and Alan C. Jensen of Moss & Jensen, Jacksonville, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., A.S. Johnston, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

LARRY G. SMITH, Judge.

Appellant entered a plea of nolo contendere to a charge of possession of more than five grams of marijuana, reserving the right to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We find no error in the trial court proceedings and affirm.

The question presented for consideration is whether the trial judge erred in denying appellant's motion to suppress without an evidentiary hearing to determine whether intentional misstatements of fact were made in the affidavit for the search warrant pursuant to which drugs were recovered from appellant's residence.

The rather unusual factual circumstances surrounding the issuance of the warrant, and the events which gave rise to appellant's challenge to the same must be briefly outlined. On December 22, 1977 one Jacky Shea was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident. After his release from the Duval County Jail he returned to the scene with the appellant, William S. Mason, III, and began searching for Methaqualone tablets he had hidden on nearby private property. Shea and appellant were apprehended by a highway patrolman at the scene. After being advised of his constitutional rights Shea made statements to the trooper that the Methaqualone tablets were part of a larger quantity located in appellant's residence, and that on the previous day he had observed approximately 1,500 of the tablets being placed in plastic bags by appellant. He also stated that the tablets had been placed in a desk located in the front of appellant's house, and that he had further observed approximately five bags of marijuana in appellant's bedroom. Based upon Shea's affidavit a search warrant was issued on December 23, 1977, and executed on the same date with the result that 1,300 Quaalude tablets, marijuana, *1127 some pipes, scales and other items were recovered from appellant's residence.

On December 27, 1977 the same Jacky Shea (Jacky Merle Shea, Jr.) made a sworn statement in the office of appellant's attorney. Based upon the contents of the sworn statement, which was stenographically reported and transcribed by a reporter from a local reporting service, appellant's counsel made and filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized by means of the search warrant, alleging, among other things, that the search warrant affidavit made by Jacky Shea was false in certain respects, as follows:

The search warrant issued herein was based on an affidavit signed by one Jacky Merle Shea, and that said affidavit is false insofar as alleging that the defendant had possession of the evidence sought to be suppressed herein, and that the said Jacky Merle Shea has sworn under oath that the above evidence belonged to him, and not to the defendant as previously alleged in the affidavit.

On appeal appellant relies for reversal upon the contentions (1) that the court erred in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine the truthfulness of the search warrant affidavit, and (2) that the court erred in denying a motion to dismiss based upon the failure of the state to produce the witness, Jacky Shea, in response to appellant's demand for discovery. As for the second point, absent some claim of wrongdoing on the part of the state, there is no error in refusal to dismiss a proceeding because of the failure of a witness subpoenaed by the defendant to appear for discovery purposes. See State v. Roig, 305 So.2d 836 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1974); State v. DeVille, 258 So.2d 492 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1972); Lewis v. State, 320 So.2d 435 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1975); State ex rel. Gerstein v. Durant, 348 So.2d 405 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1977); State v. Banks, 349 So.2d 736 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1977). On this point we have not overlooked the rather oblique references to threats from the "vice squad" related by Shea in his December 27 sworn statement, including a reference that he had been "told to leave town". It is not at all clear from the statement to whom Shea was referring, and in any event, the motion to compel production, or in the alternative, to dismiss the information contains no reference whatever to any improper action on the part of the state in connection with Shea's failure to appear for his deposition. Had there been any basis for such an assertion appellant's counsel could and presumably would have presented such grounds in the motion, since it was filed some six weeks following Shea's December 27 statement. This ground having not been presented in the trial court cannot now be urged on appeal. See Dickenson v. State, 261 So.2d 561 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1972); 3 Florida Jur. 2nd. Appellate Review, Section 92; Rule 3.190(h), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Turning to Shea's sworn statement attempting to recant his search warrant affidavit, we note the following finding by the trial court in the order denying the motion to suppress:

4. The sworn statement alone contains so many generalities and inconsistencies that it would seem to the court to have been taken at a time when the affiant may not have been mentally coherent. As indicated earlier, it was not taken during an adversary, judicial procedure such as a motion to suppress at which occasion this judge could have observed the affiant and questioned him. It is against penal interest which gives it some indicia of reliability.

We agree totally with the trial judge's observations concerning the sworn statement. It is rambling, incoherent in many parts, as well as being vague, ambiguous, and even conflicting on crucial details. For example, he denied seeing the Methaqualone tablets at appellant's residence at one point, then later stated that he knew the tablets were there because they belonged to him. During his interrogation by appellant's counsel his search warrant affidavit was read to him and he was then asked whether it was true. He denied it was true but gave "no response" to the question "what is true?". Thereafter, by a process of leading and *1128 prodding, he was induced to say that the Methaqualone belonged to him, and that he was only trying to "save my own hide" by saying that they were not his. He gave no audible response when asked if he knew who owned the Methaqualone and marijuana, and gave no response when asked whether William Mason was present when the large quantity of tablets referred to in the affidavit were being distributed. Then he gave a "no response" answer to the question whether he ever had any drugs in appellant's house, and answered "no" to whether he had drugs in "Billy's apartment". After an off the record discussion appellant's counsel stated on the record that Shea was trying to explain it was a house and not an apartment. He gave no audible answer to the question whether Billy Mason knew anything about "these Quaaludes". He admitted, however, that he did go to appellant's house on various occasions and that he was welcome there; that he had just come from New Mexico and had been back in Florida for approximately a month; and in response to a question as to how long the Quaaludes had been in appellant's apartment, he stated, "oh, as far as Billy knows or anybody else knows, they been around for a long time". The following exc

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