State v. Buenoano

707 So. 2d 714, 1998 WL 103004
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMarch 11, 1998
Docket92442
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 707 So. 2d 714 (State v. Buenoano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Buenoano, 707 So. 2d 714, 1998 WL 103004 (Fla. 1998).

Opinion

707 So.2d 714 (1998)

STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
Judy A. BUENOANO, et al., Appellees.

No. 92442.

Supreme Court of Florida.

March 11, 1998.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General and Richard B. Martell, Chief, Capital Appeals, Tallahassee; Candance M. Sabella and Kay V. Blanco, Assistant Attorneys General, Tampa; and Lawson Lamar, State Attorney and Paula C. Coffman, Assistant State Attorney, Orlando, for Appellant.

Gregory C. Smith, Capital Collateral Counsel, Northern Region; Sylvia Smith, Assistant CCC-NR and Robert Friedman, CCC-NR, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tallahassee, for Appellees.

Lucy L. Thomson, Senior Attorney, Task Force on the FBI Laboratory, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; and Elizabeth R. Beers, Assistant General Counsel, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae, U.S.

Gregg D. Thomas and Kimberly A. Stott of Holland and Knight LLP, Tampa; and David S. Bralow and Susan L. Turner of Holland & Knight LLP, Orlando, for New York Times Regional Newspapers and Sentinel Communications Company, Intervenors.

PER CURIAM.

We have on appeal the order of the trial court denying the State's motion for protective *715 order. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.

In January 1997, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel for the Northern Region (CCRC), on behalf of Judy A. Buenoano, a prisoner under sentence of death, sent letters to several agencies, including the Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney, requesting records pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1997). Each agency sent a written response indicating it would not produce the records because Buenoano did not comply with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852.

On April 15, 1997, Buenoano responded by filing, with the trial court, petitions for mandamus against each of the agencies. She sought orders compelling the agencies to produce the requested records. Each of the three panels assigned to Buenoano's petitions ordered that the petitions be treated as motions to compel or complaints in the trial court pursuant to rule 3.852(f).

The governor signed a warrant setting Buenoano's execution for March 30, 1998. Thereafter, the trial court held a hearing on Buenoano's motions to compel. On January 8, 1998, the court issued an order denying relief.

After the trial court issued its order denying relief, the State Attorney filed a "Request for In Camera Inspection and Judicial Determination of Prosecutorial Obligation." The State Attorney's motion was a response to Buenoano's assertion during the hearing on the motion to compel that the State Attorney possessed documents regarding the Office of the Inspector General's recent investigation into the questionable practices of the FBI crime lab, in particular the practices of Special Agent Roger Martz. Martz testified during Buenoano's Escambia County attempted first-degree murder trial concerning the contents of capsules Buenoano allegedly had given the victim of the Escambia County crime. A stipulated synopsis of Martz's testimony was introduced as Williams[1] rule evidence in Buenoano's Orange County first-degree murder trial, which resulted in a conviction and the imposition of the death sentence.

In its motion and argument to the trial court, the State Attorney explained that it was under the good faith belief that Buenoano was not entitled to the documents under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), but that it was submitting them to the court in order to avoid delaying the pending death warrant. The trial court orally granted the motion and the State Attorney, thereafter, submitted to the trial court a set of federal documents that had not been disclosed to Buenoano. The State Attorney had received the documents in December 1997. These documents were sent to the State Attorney with a transmittal letter that provided the terms and conditions for use of the documents. That letter provided:

These documents are not public record and should only be disclosed pursuant to a protective order. This material may contain references to individuals whose identification is protected by the Privacy Act, and to other sensitive matters. Prior to disclosing any of this material, please consult with me so that we can be sure that your impending disclosure does not adversely impact on other matters. At the conclusion of your case or at such earlier time as you determine that you no longer have a need for this material, please return all copies to me. A sample protective order is enclosed for your use.

The trial court reviewed the documents and found that the State had no obligation under Brady to provide Buenoano with the materials.

On January 20, 1998, the State Attorney filed a "Supplemental Request for In Camera Inspection and Judicial Determination of Prosecutorial Obligation." The motion indicated that the State Attorney had additional federal documents that inadvertently had not been included with the first set of documents submitted for in-camera inspection. The trial court denied the supplemental motion. *716 The State Attorney, apparently overlooking the transmittal letter outlining the terms and conditions of disclosure, voluntarily provided to Buenoano the federal documents which were the subject of the supplemental request for inspection. The State Attorney also made the documents a part of the court record. Specifically, the documents were included in Volume IV.

Buenoano appealed the trial court's orders and the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit asked this Court for an emergency protective order covering the federal documents sealed by the trial court and the documents contained in Volume IV. The State Attorney sought the protective order after realizing that some of the documents, including documents it volunteered to Buenoano, were under seal in other state and federal cases and should not have been given to Buenoano absent a protective order.

This Court issued a series of orders. In the first order, the Court directed that disclosure of Volume TV be limited to Buenoano, her counsel, her investigators, and her experts until further order by the Court. In a subsequent order, the Court directed the State Attorney to give the remaining sealed documents to Buenoano with the same limitations it had placed on the records in Volume IV in its prior order. This limitation on access was temporary and the trial court was ordered to conduct a hearing on a motion for protective order to be filed by the State Attorney by February 11, 1998. This Court also transferred to the trial court the New York Times Regional Newspapers and the Sentinel Communications Company's motions to intervene.

The trial court granted the media's motions to intervene. Thereafter, the trial court issued an order unsealing all the documents the State did not want covered by the protective order. That left a total of ten documents, all of which were in Volume IV of the record, for which the State sought a protective order.

With regard to the ten documents, the trial court relied on section 119.011(3)(c)5, Florida Statutes (1997),[2] and found that the exemptions in sections 119.072[3] and 119.07(3)(b)[4] were not applicable to the documents, because they were already made public when given to the defendant and voluntarily filed with the court.

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Related

State v. Wright
803 So. 2d 793 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)
Ago
Florida Attorney General Reports, 1999
State v. Parker
721 So. 2d 1147 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1998)
Buenoano v. State
708 So. 2d 941 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
707 So. 2d 714, 1998 WL 103004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-buenoano-fla-1998.