Peoples v. State

576 So. 2d 783, 1991 WL 22975
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 28, 1991
Docket89-1074
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 576 So. 2d 783 (Peoples 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
Peoples v. State, 576 So. 2d 783, 1991 WL 22975 (Fla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

576 So.2d 783 (1991)

Robert PEOPLES, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 89-1074.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

February 28, 1991.
Rehearings Denied April 4, 1991.

*785 James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Brynn Newton, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Pamela D. Cichon, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

PETERSON, Judge.

Robert Peoples appeals his judgment and sentence imposed following a jury verdict. Peoples was convicted of trafficking in more than four but less than fourteen grams of Dilaudid and conspiracy to traffic in the same amount of Dilaudid in violation of sections 893.135(1)(c)1 and 893.135(5), Florida Statutes (1987).

On February 27, 1988, a Rockledge police detective responded to a telephone call from a pharmacist who suspected that a customer's prescription for a narcotic was forged. Without arousing the suspicion of the customer, the pharmacist delayed filling the prescription and gave the detective time to travel to the pharmacy. The detective parked near the pharmacy and observed the actions of Peoples and two coconspirators, Virgilio and Sawyer. The surveillance culminated in the arrest of the three as they attempted to drive away after Virgilio had paid for and obtained the drugs from the pharmacist. The detective found several forged prescriptions and 19.8 grams of Dilaudid in the car occupied by the three. Peoples' fingerprint was found on one of the prescriptions.

After he was arrested and given his Miranda warning, Peoples invoked his right to be silent and to have an attorney. After making his first appearance pursuant to rule 3.130, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, Peoples posted bond and was released. Virgilio, who was the only one of the three unable to make bond, eventually advised police that he would cooperate and offered to allow them to record his calls to Peoples. Over a period of three days, two calls were made by Virgilio to Peoples. During the last phone conversation, Peoples told Virgilio he was sure the phone conversation was being taped since Virgilio was calling from the jail.

Sawyer testified at trial in exchange for a waiver of a minimum mandatory sentence. Sawyer testified that Peoples and one Michael Giadona were partners in the scheme and that Giadona supplied the false prescriptions. Sawyer testified that he was addicted to Dilaudid and that he had been purchasing it from the partners since 1985. The record does not reflect testimony by Virgilio other than proffered testimony to explain the manner in which the two phone conversations were recorded. Peoples' defense was that his only connection with the persons involved was that he was interested romantically in the "phone girl." Her role in the scam was to be available to respond when pharmacists called to verify prescriptions. Peoples testified that he merely accompanied Sawyer and Virgilio without knowing the purpose of the trip, that he opened the glove compartment of the car where the prescriptions were located to obtain a package of cigarettes and picked up a set of prescriptions only to take a quick look. He also testified that, nevertheless, he was not stupid and understood what the others were doing.

Peoples alleges that the trial court erred by:

*786 I. Denying his motion to suppress the evidence presented to the jury of the two taped phone conversations between Virgilio and himself.
II. Granting the state's motion in limine to preclude cross-examination regarding Sawyer's prior conviction.
III. Imposing consecutive minimum mandatory sentences for trafficking and conspiracy to traffic.
IV. Imposing a six-year minimum mandatory sentence for the trafficking charge.

I. MOTION TO SUPPRESS

Peoples cites Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964), to support his argument that the trial court erred by not suppressing the recording of his telephone conversations with Virgilio. In Massiah, a co-defendant decided to cooperate with government agents by permitting the installation of a radio transmitter under the front seat of his car. Massiah, who had retained a lawyer, had been indicted, arraigned, and released on bail. Thereafter, he made several incriminating statements to his co-defendant in the bugged car. The Supreme Court held that evidence of the incriminating statements should be suppressed. The Court held that, since the statements were deliberately elicited from him after he had been indicted and in the absence of retained counsel, Massiah's Sixth Amendment rights were violated.

The Massiah principle was again applied in United States v. Henry, 447 U.S. 264, 100 S.Ct. 2183, 65 L.Ed.2d 115 (1980), in which post-indictment incriminating statements were made by the defendant to a cellmate who was also a paid informant. Evidence of the statements was suppressed. The statements had been obtained in violation of Henry's Sixth Amendment right to assistance of counsel since they were made after indictment and while the defendant was in custody. In Maine v. Moulton, 474 U.S. 159, 106 S.Ct. 477, 88 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985), the defendant, following his indictment, made incriminating statements to a co-defendant who had consented to be equipped with a body bug and who had been instructed not to attempt to question the defendant regarding the charges. With respect to charges for which the defendant had been indicted, the Court found a violation of the Sixth Amendment. However, the Court held admissible evidence of statements made that pertained to crimes for which the defendant had not been indicted.

The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches only when formal judicial proceedings are initiated against an individual by way of indictment, information, arraignment, or preliminary hearing. Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972). The Supreme Court recently reiterated the rule that "[a]fter charges have been filed, the Sixth Amendment prevents the government from interfering with the accused's right to counsel." Illinois v. Perkins, ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 2394, 110 L.Ed.2d 243 (1990) (emphasis added). In Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986), Justice O'Connor referred to the distinction between statements made before and after the filing of formal charges when she commented on the Moulton opinion:

The Court made clear, however, that the evidence concerning the crime for which the defendant had not been indicted — evidence obtained in precisely the same manner from the identical suspect — would be admissible at a trial limited to those charges... . The clear implication of the holding, and one that confirms the teaching of [United States v. Gouveia, 467 U.S. 180, 104 S.Ct. 2292, 81 L.Ed.2d 146 (1984)], is that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel does not attach until after the initiation of formal charges.

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Bluebook (online)
576 So. 2d 783, 1991 WL 22975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peoples-v-state-fladistctapp-1991.