Melendez v. State

135 So. 3d 456, 2014 WL 1094614, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 4170
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 21, 2014
DocketNo. 5D12-3658
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 135 So. 3d 456 (Melendez 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
Melendez v. State, 135 So. 3d 456, 2014 WL 1094614, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 4170 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

GRIFFIN, J.

Appellant, Hector Melendez [“Melendez”], appeals his conviction and sentence for burglary of a dwelling in violation of section 810.02(3)(b), Florida Statutes (2012); dealing in stolen property in violation of section 812.019(1); and grand theft in violation of section 812.014(2)(c)S. On appeal, Melendez contends that the trial court erred by admitting hearsay evidence consisting of statements made by Melendez’s codefendants. Melendez further contends that the trial court erred by convicting him on both the dealing in stolen property charge and the grand theft charge.

In June of 2012, Tami Anson [“Anson”] and her family rented a house in Osceola County [the “rental house”] for their Disney vacation. On June 8, 2012, while Anson and her family were visiting Downtown Disney, the rental house was burglarized, and an iPad, Nikon camera, laptop, video camera, and two iPods were stolen. A remote locator device on An-son’s iPad directed law enforcement officers to the residence of Richard and Jacqueline Pellegrino, located on Flamingo Lakes Drive [the “Flamingo Lakes residence”]. Both the iPad and the Nikon camera were found at the Flamingo Lakes residence, and Richard Pellegrino [“Richard”] was arrested. Richard originally told Deputy Andrew Stokes [“Deputy Stokes”] that he had purchased the stolen items at a bar, but after he was placed under arrest, Richard explained that he had received the items from Jorge Velez [“Jorge”] in exchange for a loan to Jorge’s daughter, Kimberly Velez [“Kimberly”]. Jorge and his girlfriend, Yadiria Medina-Rivera [‘Yadi”], had recently moved into the Flamingo Lakes residence with Richard and Jacqueline.

Both Jorge and Yadi, who were also present at the Flamingo Lakes residence [458]*458when law enforcement officers arrived, were then placed under arrest. Detective James Forgey [“Detective Forgey”] spoke with Jorge and Yadi, who confessed to their part in the burglary, grand theft, and dealing in stolen property, and implicated Melendez as a suspect. Detective Forgey then gave this information to Detective Nicholas Bardis [“Detective Bardis”], who used it to prepare the search warrant for Melendez’s residence. Upon entering Melendez’s residence, Detective Forgey and other law enforcement officers found Melendez and Kimberly in bed. When Melendez rose from the bed, an iPod (which was later identified as one of the items stolen from the rental house but which, for some reason, was not one of the items Melendez was charged with stealing and was not listed in the State’s trial exhibit as one of the stolen items), fell out of Melendez’s possession. Detective Forgey testified that Melendez, realizing that the law enforcement officers knew that the iPod was stolen, stated, “Big Deal. You’ve got me on this one.” Detective Forgey further testified that Melendez told him “I’ll be back out — I’ll be back out doing licks because probation’s a fucking joke.”1

Ultimately, Melendez, Richard, Jorge, Yadi, and Kimberly were charged with burglarizing the rental house, dealing in stolen property — the iPad and Nikon camera — and grand theft of the iPad, Nikon camera, and “other personal property.” The charges against Richard were subsequently dropped.

At Melendez’s trial, the State sought to prove that Melendez took part in the burglary of the rental house and the theft and trafficking of the iPad and Nikon camera.2 The State elicited from Detective Forgey the information given to him by Jorge, Yadi, and Kimberly regarding the events of June 8, 2012. Over Melendez’s hearsay objection, Detective Forgey testified that, according to the codefendants’ statements, the following events occurred on June 8, 2012: Melendez and Kimberly arrived at the Flamingo Lakes residence in the early afternoon of June 8, 2012, picked up Jorge and Yadi, and drove to a neighborhood off of Poinciana Boulevard. Once there, Jorge and Yadi remained in the vehicle and Kimberly and Melendez were let out on foot just outside the neighborhood’s wall. Melendez instructed Jorge to drive the vehicle out of the area and to wait for Melendez’s phone call. Then, Melendez and Kimberly walked into the neighborhood and split up. Kimberly acted as a lookout while Melendez committed the burglary. Melendez called Jorge, who drove back to the neighborhood to pick up Melendez and Kimberly.

Melendez took the stand to testify in his defense. His defense was short and simple: he did not burglarize the rental house, he did not have an iPod with him when he was arrested, he does not know and has never met Richard and Jacqueline Pelle-grino, he did not sell Richard a laptop, Kimberly had his cell phone on the day of the burglary, and, during the burglary, he was at Walmart. Melendez was convicted on all three counts and was sentenced to sixty months for each offense to be served concurrently.

On appeal, Melendez contends that the contents of the codefendants’ statements about their — and Melendez’s — role in the burglary, theft and dealing in stolen prop[459]*459erty constituted out-of-court statements, introduced to prove the truth of the matter asserted, which were not admissible under either the rules of evidence or case law. In response, the State contends that the statements were properly admitted because they “completed the incorrect impression left by [Melendez’s] cross-examination.”

“[U]nder most circumstances, it is error to admit the details of a non-testifying codefendant’s confession into evidence against the defendant.” Ramirez v. State, 739 So.2d 568, 579 (Fla.1999). “This is because admission of a codefendant’s statements is inadmissible hearsay and violates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Id. “A codefendant’s statements are especially suspect because he has a strong motivation to implicate another, rendering these statements even less credible than ordinary hearsay.” Id. (emphasis added). However, the concept of “opening the door” allows the admission of otherwise inadmissible testimony to qualify, explain, or limit testimony or evidence previously admitted. Lawrence v. State, 846 So.2d 440, 452 (Fla.2003) (citing Rodriguez v. State, 753 So.2d 29 (Fla.2000)). The concept of “opening the door” is based on considerations of fairness and the truth-seeking function of a trial. Id. But “[because fairness is the key concern of this evidentiary principle, the mere fact that testimony may be characterized as incomplete or misleading does not automatically trigger the admission of otherwise inadmissible evidence .... ” Redd v. State, 49 So.3d 329, 333 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). “Rather, the State must demonstrate a legitimate need to resort to such evidence to correct a false impression. Otherwise, the ‘opening the door’ rule threatens to become a pretext for the illegitimate use of inadmissible evidence, and the fairness-promoting purpose of the rule is lost.” Siegel v. State, 68 So.3d 281, 288 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (quoting Redd, 49 So.3d at 333). Thus, “the appropriate inquiry here is whether based on considerations of fairness, the door was opened wide enough by defense counsel’s questions to permit otherwise inadmissible and unreliable statements to be admitted into evidence.” Ramirez, 739 So.2d at 580 (emphasis added). “The issue is not always whether the door has been opened, but rather how wide it has been opened.” Rodriguez, 753 So.2d at 42.

In Ramirez,

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Bluebook (online)
135 So. 3d 456, 2014 WL 1094614, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 4170, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melendez-v-state-fladistctapp-2014.