State v. Alvarino

585 So. 2d 1094, 1991 Fla. App. LEXIS 9261, 1991 WL 175840

Opinion

SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.

Nothing in Everett v. State, 579 So.2d 394, 395 (Fla.3d DCA 1991), including the tangential reference to section 531.41(8), Florida Statutes (1989), creates or suggests a requirement that a measuring device used to determine that a drug sale took place less than one thousand feet from a school under section 893.13(1)(e), Florida Statutes (1989) must be previously calibrated or otherwise independently tested for accuracy. In fact, there is no such requirement. See St. Louis & S.F. Ry. Co. v. Brown, 62 Ark. 254, 35 S.W. 225 (1896); 2 Wigmore on Evidence § 571 (Chadbourn rev. 1979) (distance proper subject of lay testimony); 7 Wigmore on Evidence § 1977, at 191 n. 2 (Chadbourn rev. 1978) (distance proper subject of expert testimony). Accordingly, the contrary order below, which excluded pertinent evidence on that basis, is quashed.

Certiorari granted.