Snell v. State

939 So. 2d 1175, 2006 WL 3018232
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 25, 2006
Docket4D04-3602
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 939 So. 2d 1175 (Snell 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
Snell v. State, 939 So. 2d 1175, 2006 WL 3018232 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

939 So.2d 1175 (2006)

Antwuan SNELL, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 4D04-3602.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

October 25, 2006.

*1177 Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and John M. Conway, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Jeanine M. Germanowicz, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

WARNER, J.

Antwuan Snell appeals his multiple convictions, including ones for trafficking in cocaine, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. Snell claims that the trial court erred in admitting his statement connecting him to the cocaine, because *1178 the state had not established the corpus delicti before its admission. He also claims that numerous evidentiary errors cumulatively denied him a fair trial. We conclude that the court did not err in admitting his statement, and the alleged evidentiary errors were either not error, not preserved, or were harmless. We affirm.

Two Fort Lauderdale police officers noticed a vehicle with dark tinted windows. They activated their lights to stop the vehicle for the equipment violation, but the vehicle took off. Rather than engage in a high speed chase, they turned off their lights but observed the vehicle continue at a high rate of speed and ultimately crash into another vehicle. The crash was of such force as to throw both occupants of the other vehicle out of the car and onto the pavement.

The officers pulled up and saw defendant Snell, whom they identified as the driver, crawling over his unconscious passenger out the passenger side window. He took off running, but one officer caught him almost immediately, took him to the ground, and handcuffed him. EMT personnel arrived to assist the injured victims. The other officer checked Snell's passenger. When he did, he observed a plastic bag containing cocaine on the front seat in the middle of the car. Officers searched Snell and found a wad of small bills totaling $2010 in his pocket.

Snell complained of foot pain, and the officers transported him to the same hospital where the injured victims from the other vehicle were taken. Both during the trip to the hospital and at the hospital, Snell was talkative. In fact, at the hospital he provoked a confrontation with the family of one of the victims with some of his comments and his laughing. During this time, he continued to talk and told one of the officers, using expletives, that they could keep his cocaine but he wanted his money back.

The state ultimately charged Snell with trafficking in cocaine, as the amount of cocaine seized was 29.2 grams, as well as aggravated fleeing and eluding, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, misdemeanor reckless driving, and having no valid driver's license. The jury convicted him of all charges. The court sentenced Snell to thirty years in prison on the trafficking count, fifteen years on the aggravated fleeing and eluding, five years on the counts for leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, and time served on the remaining counts.

On appeal, Snell contends that the court erred in allowing the state to introduce his admission of ownership of the cocaine before establishing the corpus delicti of the crime. "Ordinarily, proof of the corpus delicti of the crime charged is required before a confession or admission against interest may be received in evidence." Garmon v. State, 772 So.2d 43, 46 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Specifically, the state has to prove:

(1) that a crime of the type charged was committed; and (2) that the crime was committed through the criminal agency of another. In regard to the first part—that a crime was committed— each element of the relevant offense must be shown to exist. With respect to the second part—the criminal agency of another—the proof need not show the specific identity of the person who committed the crime. That is, it is not necessary to prove that the crime was committed by the defendant.

Franqui v. State, 699 So.2d 1312, 1317 (Fla.1997) (citations omitted). The primary function of this requirement is to protect the defendant "from being convicted *1179 of a nonexistent crime due to `derangement, mistake or official fabrication.'" Baxter v. State, 586 So.2d 1196, 1198 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) (quoting State v. Allen, 335 So.2d 823, 825 (Fla.1976)).

However, corpus delicti does not necessarily include each element of proof required to establish the defendant's guilt. Baxter, 586 So.2d at 1199. "For example, the defendant's identity is not typically an element of a crime's corpus delicti." Id. As the supreme court stated,

This [corpus delicti] rule obviously does not require the state to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt before his or her confession may be admitted. Indeed, as this Court has stated before, it is preferable that the occurrence of a crime be established before any evidence is admitted to show the identity of the guilty party, even though it is often difficult to segregate the two. The state has a burden to bring forth `substantial evidence' tending to show the commission of the charged crime. This standard does not require the proof to be uncontradicted or overwhelming, but it must at least show the existence of each element of the crime.

Allen, 335 So.2d at 825 (footnotes omitted). The state's burden in establishing the corpus delicti for an admission is far below its burden for a conviction. See Garmon, 772 So.2d at 46 ("The state is not required to prove the elements of the corpus delicti beyond a reasonable doubt before admission of a defendant's self-incriminatory statements. That burden is only required to convict. The state must, however, present substantial evidence which tends to show that the crime charged was, in fact, committed by someone.") (citations omitted). Circumstantial evidence may be offered to satisfy this burden. See Allen, 335 So.2d at 824 ("[B]efore a confession is admitted the state has the burden of proving by substantial evidence that a crime was committed, and that such proof may be in the form of circumstantial evidence.").

In this case, Snell was charged with violating section 893.135(1)(b)1.a., Florida Statutes (2001), which is the offense of trafficking in cocaine. "The four elements of the offense which must be established beyond a reasonable doubt are as follows: a) that the defendant knowingly purchased or possessed a certain substance, b) the substance was cocaine, c) the quantity was 28 grams or more, and d) the defendant knew the substance was cocaine."[1]Concepcion v. State, 857 So.2d 299, 300 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003). In order to establish constructive possession of a controlled substance, the state must prove that the defendant "knew of its presence, knew of its illicit nature, and had dominion and control over the contraband." Lewis v. State, 570 So.2d 346, 348 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990).

The state established sufficient evidence of these elements prior to the admission of the defendant's statement. It proved that officers found a trafficking weight of cocaine in open view in the car Snell had been driving. See State v. Wallace, 734 So.2d 1126, 1129 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); Johnson v. State, 569 So.2d 872, 874 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990).

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939 So. 2d 1175, 2006 WL 3018232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snell-v-state-fladistctapp-2006.