State v. Carter

13 Fla. Supp. 2d 104
CourtCircuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida
DecidedJune 11, 1985
DocketCase No. 84-9953A
StatusPublished

This text of 13 Fla. Supp. 2d 104 (State v. Carter) 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. Carter, 13 Fla. Supp. 2d 104 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

PHILIP BLOOM, Circuit Judge.

This cause came before the Court on Defendant Peggy Carter’s Motion for New Trial and Amended Motion for New Trial (hereinafter “motion”) filed pursuant to Rule 3.600, Fla.R,Cr.P. The Court read [105]*105the transcript of the proceedings, heard extensive oral argument with respect to the matter, and also reviewed the very well drawn memoranda filed in behalf of each of the parties. Based on the foregoing, the Court makes the following findings and conclusions of law:

I. Introduction

A. The Defendant directed her motion basically to the insufficiency of, and the weight of, the evidence. Additionally, the Defendant contends that the Court should not have permitted the case to be submitted to the jury, but rather, should have granted Defendant’s motion for acquittal at the close of the State’s case and, thereafter, at the close of all the evidence.

B. The Legislature of this State mandated by virtue of Chapter 893, Florida Statutes, and in particular Section 893.135(l)(b) that drug abuse must be prevented and controlled. To that end, the Legislature imposed a penalty based on the amount of cocaine involved of a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment which in this case is fifteen (15) calendar years and a fine of $250,000. That crime is a first degree felony known as “trafficking in cocaine.”

C. Pursuant to her request, Defendant Carter was tried by a jury of her peers, and was found guilty of trafficking in cocaine. The Court deferred sentencing of the Defendant until disposition of this motion.

D. The Court is mindful of the laws of the State and of the abuses caused here by cocaine trafficking. However, it is the Court’s duty to determine whether the evidence was sufficient to submit the case to the jury or to let the jury verdict stand in accordance with the legal standards contained in Chapter 893, Florida Statutes. Those standards are directed to whether Defendant Carter was “knowingly in actual or constructive possession” of the proscribed amount of cocaine. It has been stipulated as to the amount. In dispute, however, according to Defendant, is whether the Defendant was knowingly in actual or constructive possession of the cocaine.

E. This Court will not lightly overturn a jury verdict, especially since the jury system draws from the life experiences of the jurors in their individual and collective capacities. The jury is fundamental to our criminal justice system, and a jury decision should be given the presumption of correctness or validity whenever possible if it is in accordance with prevailing law as interpreted by our Courts.

F. It is not this Court’s province to determine the credibility of the witnesses or to impose its will upon the jury except, perhaps, to avoid manifest injustice. Based on the jury’s verdict here, the jury apparently [106]*106chose to believe the State’s case and did not believe the Defendant’s version of the facts. Accordingly, the facts will be related on that basis, i.e., in a light most favorable to the State. On those facts, the Court will on this motion examine and analyze the existing law as applicable to those facts.

II. The Substantial Evidence

A. On April 26, 1984, the police set up a surveillance at a residence in Dade County believed to be a cocaine cutting house.

B. After approximately one hour and forty-five to fifty minutes into the surveillance, police observed three individuals exiting the rear of the residence, none of whom could then be specifically identified, but one of whom was carrying what later proved to be a large brown bag. The three persons went to the rear of a Toyota vehicle, later discovered to be registered in the name of Defendant Carter, and the person carrying the large brown paper bag placed it inside of the trunk of the automobile.

C. The same three individuals then drove away from the residence and were followed by the surveillance officers. The three individuals were never lost sight of from the time they exited the house until they were later arrested and it was established that they were at all times the same three who left the residence and got into the Toyota.

D. The surveillance officers caused a uniformed police unit to stop the Toyota which directed the three individuals to exit therefrom. The officers then removed the large brown paper bag from the truck and discovered in it the sum of $2,400 in cash and eight smaller brown paper bags each containing some 100 tinfoil packets of cocaine. Subsequent fingerprint analysis revealed one of Defendant Carter’s fingerprints on the outside of two of the small brown paper bags.

E. The Toyota was a gift to Defendant Carter from her boyfriend Thomas Sharp, another named Defendant in the Information (whose occupation Defendant did not know) who on the night of the incident was the driver of the automobile. Defendant Carter was in the front passenger seat of the automobile and the third individual was in the rear seat of the car at the time of the arrest.

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Bluebook (online)
13 Fla. Supp. 2d 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carter-flacirct-1985.