State v. Calhoun

7 Fla. Supp. 2d 3
CourtCircuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida
DecidedSeptember 21, 1984
DocketCase No. 84-1963 CF A 02 “U”
StatusPublished

This text of 7 Fla. Supp. 2d 3 (State v. Calhoun) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court for the Judicial Circuits 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. Calhoun, 7 Fla. Supp. 2d 3 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

CARL H. HARPER, Circuit Judge.

The defendant filed his Amended Motion to Suppress Statements, Admissions and Confessions on August 30, 1984. The State filed its Answer thereto on September 6, 1984. The matter came on for an evidentiary hearing on September 6, 1984. The court reserved ruling for entry of this written order. Based on the evidence presented, after due consideration of the legal authorities cited by the parties in support of and in opposition to the motion and having heard the arguments of respective counsel, the defendant’s Amended Motion to Suppress Statements, Admissions and Confessions is granted. Therefore, the [4]*4videotaped conversations between this defendant and his brother, McCall Calhoun, surreptitiously recorded on March 22, 1984 by agents of the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Department shall not be admitted in evidence, over objection, in the State’s case in chief at trial.

At the outset, it should be pointed out that the State stipulated into the record that it would not attempt to offer into evidence in its case in chief at trial those statements made by this defendant subsequent to the above referred to videotape recording. Therefore, this order does not deal with the admissibility of those statements.

FINDINGS OF FACT

On March 21, 1984, this defendant became a suspect in the murder and robbery charged in this case through information given by a county jail inmate named Rockwell. At that time, the defendant was already confined in the Palm Beach County Jail awaiting trial on an unrelated attempted first-degree murder charge in case number 84-1593 CF. He had been appointed a public defender at his first appearance hearing in that case on March 12, 1984. The information in that case was not filed until March 29, 1984.

On March 22, 1984, the defendant was taken from his cell at the jail to another building where he was placed in an interview room equipped with a videotape camera that was concealed above the ceiling. The hidden camera had been placed there some two months earlier at the suggestion of or on the advice of Assistant State Attorney Ann Yitunac, according to the testimony of Detective John Kianka. Detective William Springer informed the defendant of his Miranda rights ostensibly preparatory to discussing a pending, unrelated robbery charge. The defendant was not informed that he was a suspect in the instant charges. However, the defendant asked to speak with his brother, McCall Calhoun (who was also confined in the county jail on unrelated charges), before making a statement. Thereupon, McCall Calhoun was placed in the interview room for a private conversation with the defendant. Detective Springer and others monitored the “private” conversation from outside the room, but did not videotape the conversation. Needless to say, neither brother was aware that their conversation was being monitored and neither was aware of the concealed videotape camera, nor had either consented thereto. After about five minutes, Springer terminated their conversation by removing McCall Calhoun to a nearby “holding cell”. Springer then entered the interview room and again gave the defendant his Miranda rights. The defendant invoked his right to remain silent and asked to see his public defender. Accordingly, the attempted interview was terminated and Springer left the room. The defendant remained in the room alone.

[5]*5Springer and other officers discussed their strategy for about “two minutes”. At the suggestion of Deputy Ugliano, McCall Calhoun was again placed in the interview room with the defendant so that their conversation could be monitored “for investigative purposes, not just for security”, according to the testimony of Springer. That conversation lasted about fifteen minutes and was videotaped, both audio and visual. Needless to say, there was no court order authorizing the intercept and neither brother had consented thereto. The videotape was placed in evidence as State’s exhibit 1 and played for the court. Most of the conversation related to matters not relevant to this case. Those irrelevant matters would not be admissible in the trial of this case in any event over objection because the prejudicial effect outweighs any possible relevance. As far as this court is concerned, the only relevant statement made by the defendant was his statement that “they can’t prove the murder of that dude on me because it was a different gun, different bullet”, or words of like import. The taped conversation ended abruptly when the defendant happened to look up toward the ceiling and noticed the camera behind the plexiglass. Thereafter, the videotape was played to the defendant by Detective Kianka. After viewing the tape, the defendant made subsequent statements which, as noted above, will not be used by the State in its case in chief in the trial of the instant case.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The State has failed in its burden to demonstrate the admissibility of the videotape recording or the above quoted relevant portion thereof. An interception is per se unreasonable unless a warrant has been obtained or unless a constitutionally permissible exception has been shown by the State. Tollett v. State, 272 So.2d 490 (Fla. 1973) and Chiarenza v. State, 406 So.2d 66 (4th DCA 1981).

Wiretapping and other forms of eavesdropping have historically been repugnant to the American people who place a high value on the right of privacy. The right of privacy is guaranteed to all people in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as Article I, sections 12 and 13 of the Florida Constitution. In fact, Article I, section 12 expressly provides:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and against the unreasonable interception of private communications by any means, shall not be violated” . . . (emphasis mine)

Furthermore, section 934.03, Florida Statutes, makes it unlawful for [6]*6any person (including law enforcement officers) to willfully intercept, use or disclose any wire or oral communication, or to endeavor to do so or procure another to do so, punishable by five years’ imprisonment in the State Prison, with certain exceptions not applicable under the evidence herein. The consent exception in the Florida statutes is more restrictive than its federal counterpart. As noted above, there was no court order authorizing this intercept and neither conversant had knowledge of or had consented to the intercept. The statutes protect the conversants, not the party who makes the illegal intercept. State v. News-Press Publishing Company, 338 So.2d 1313 (2d DCA 1976) and State v. Walls, 356 So.2d 294 (Fla. 1978). In addition to the felony sanctions, section 934.06 expressly provides that no part of the contents of illegally intercepted communications and no evidence derived therefrom may be received in evidence in any proceeding. See for example Horn v. State, 298 So.2d 194 (1st DCA 1974), and State v. Walls, supra.

The Fourth Amendment guarantees to protect people, not places, and, more particularly, it protects people from unreasonable government intrusion into their legitimate expectations of privacy. Katz v. United States, 88 S.Ct. 507 (1967) and United States v. Chadwick, 97 S.Ct. 2476 (1977). Obviously, the defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in' the interview room itself under the search provisions of either Constitution.

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Related

Massiah v. United States
377 U.S. 201 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Katz v. United States
389 U.S. 347 (Supreme Court, 1967)
United States v. Chadwick
433 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Edwards v. Arizona
451 U.S. 477 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Chiarenza v. State
406 So. 2d 66 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1981)
State v. News-Press Pub. Co.
338 So. 2d 1313 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1976)
State v. Ridenour
453 So. 2d 193 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
Brown v. State
349 So. 2d 1196 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1977)
Morningstar v. State
405 So. 2d 778 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1981)
Morningstar v. State
428 So. 2d 220 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1982)
Horn v. State
298 So. 2d 194 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1974)
State v. Walls
356 So. 2d 294 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1978)
DiGuilio v. State
451 So. 2d 487 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
Tollett v. State
272 So. 2d 490 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1973)
Dismukes v. State
324 So. 2d 201 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
Stanley v. State
350 So. 2d 475 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1977)
Hyland v. Wainwright
356 So. 2d 14 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1977)

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Bluebook (online)
7 Fla. Supp. 2d 3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-calhoun-flacirct-1984.