State v. Parker

991 So. 2d 411, 2008 WL 4329952
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 24, 2008
Docket3D08-450
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 991 So. 2d 411 (State v. Parker) 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
State v. Parker, 991 So. 2d 411, 2008 WL 4329952 (Fla. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

991 So.2d 411 (2008)

The STATE of Florida, Petitioner,
v.
Tremayne PARKER, Respondent.

No. 3D08-450.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

September 24, 2008.
Rehearing Denied October 2, 2008.

*412 Katherine Fernandez Rundle, State Attorney, and Penny H. Brill, Assistant State Attorney; Bill McCollum, Attorney General, for petitioner.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Maria E. Lauredo, Assistant Public Defender, for respondent.

Before SUAREZ, ROTHENBERG, and LAGOA, JJ.

ROTHENBERG, Judge.

The State of Florida ("the State") seeks a writ of certiorari quashing the trial court's orders granting the defendant's motion to suppress the out-of-court and in-court identifications, and an order granting the defendant's motion in limine regarding his involvement in drugs. For the reasons that follow, we grant the petition in part, quash the trial court's orders suppressing the out-of-court and in-court identifications, and deny the petition to quash the order granting the defendant's motion in limine.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article V, section 4(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution, and Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(3) and 9.100. See State v. Pettis, 520 So.2d 250 (Fla.1988) (upholding State's right to certiorari review of pretrial orders); State v. Rambaran, 975 So.2d 519 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (holding that orders suppressing relevant evidence may be reviewed by petition for writ of certiorari); State v. Styles, 962 So.2d 1031 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (finding certiorari review appropriate for suppression of out-of-court and in-court identifications); State v. Gerry, 855 So.2d 157 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003).

The defendant was indicted for the first-degree premeditated murder of Andre Hart ("the victim") and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The firearm charge was severed for trial. The State contends that the defendant shot and killed the victim at approximately 5:10 a.m. outside of the victim's mother's home where he had been living with his girlfriend, Venecia Anderson ("Ms. Anderson"), and their four-month-old daughter.

Ms. Anderson, in a sworn statement taken just hours after the shooting, testified that she was awakened by the sound of gunfire. When she looked out of a window, she saw a man who she knew as *413 "Tremayne," getting into the front passenger seat of a black four-door 1995 or 1996 Nissan Maxima with dark black tinted windows. She additionally noted that the vehicle Tremayne entered was parked in front of the victim's vehicle, and after the shooting, the vehicle proceeded east and turned left on 23rd Avenue in the direction of 68th Street.

Ms. Anderson found the victim lying near his car, covered in blood and unresponsive. She called 911 and the police arrived while she was still on the phone speaking with the operator. Ms. Anderson described the man she saw as a tall, skinny, very dark-skinned black man, with a short scruffy-looking beard and a low-cut Afro haircut, wearing a black crew-neck T-shirt. She testified that the lights in front of the house were "very bright," she actually made eye contact with the subject, she had known the subject since she was fifteen or sixteen years old, and she had seen him at least five or six times in the area of her sister's house prior to the shooting. Ms. Anderson explained that her sister lived at 1943 N.W. 2nd Court and she had seen Tremayne near her sister's apartment on a number of occasions when she dropped her baby off at her sister's apartment.

In this sworn statement, Ms. Anderson told Detective Rivers that the victim was afraid of Tremayne, and that when Tremayne learned where they were living, they moved from their apartment into the victim's mother's home. She explained that approximately three years earlier, Tremayne killed the victim's friend, Kawanis Hammette, and although Tremayne was arrested for the killing of Hammette, he was not ultimately prosecuted for the crime. The victim, however, was prosecuted for tampering with evidence related to the shooting of Hammette, which resulted in a violation of his probation and a sentence of ten months incarceration.

In her sworn statement, Ms. Anderson stated that since the death of Hammette, there had been bad blood between the victim and Tremayne. She described an incident she witnessed wherein Tremayne threatened the victim. She testified that she was with the victim and their daughter. When Tremayne saw them, he formed his hand to simulate a gun, and pretended to shoot at the victim. Ms. Anderson testified that the victim told her that Tremayne threatened him daily, he was aware that Tremayne carried a gun, and he was afraid of Tremayne. Ms. Anderson positively identified the defendant in a live line-up as the man she saw getting into the black Nissan Maxima the night the victim was shot.

Ms. Anderson's testimony at the motion to suppress was consistent with the sworn statement she provided to the police on the morning of the homicide. At the motion to suppress, the trial court also learned the following. While still at the scene of the crime, and before Ms. Anderson spoke to Detective Rivers, Ms. Anderson told Detective Melgarejo and a friend or family member, Yolanda Clemens, that she knew the individual she saw outside her home when the victim was killed, and his name was Tremayne. During the ride to the homicide office, prior to Ms. Anderson's interview by Detective Rivers and her sworn statement, Ms. Clemens told Detective Rivers that Ms. Anderson had called her and told her that she recognized the person as someone she knew.

While still at the scene of the homicide, and prior to Ms. Anderson's sworn statement, law enforcement learned that the "Tremayne" Ms. Anderson was referring to was Tremayne Parker, the defendant. Law enforcement apparently obtained this *414 information from Aaron Stirrup, the victim's brother.

Based upon the information Detective Rivers had obtained, he assembled two photographic line-ups and showed them to Ms. Anderson at the homicide office. Ms. Anderson did not identify the defendant, whose picture was contained in one of the photo arrays. She did, however, select the picture of Larry Duggins as someone who looked like Tremayne Parker, and told Detective Rivers that she would like to view a live line-up because she could identify the man she saw on the night of the shooting if she observed him in a live line-up.

Because the defendant had not yet been arrested and was not in custody, a court order had to be obtained to subject the defendant to a live line-up. Unfortunately, before the live line-up could be arranged, the victim's brother, Aaron Stirrup, showed Ms. Anderson a picture of the defendant. At the live line-up, Ms. Anderson immediately and positively identified the defendant as the man she saw that night, who she knew as Tremayne, a man she had seen on a number of occasions prior to the shooting and who she had seen threaten the victim prior to the victim's murder.

Based upon the suggestiveness of Ms. Anderson being shown a picture of the defendant by the victim's brother prior to Ms. Anderson's positive identification of the defendant at the line-up, the trial court suppressed Ms. Anderson's pre-trial identification and her in-court identification at the upcoming trial.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

"Florida law is clear that there is a two-part test for the suppression of an out-of-court identification." Styles, 962 So.2d at 1032; see also Grant v. State,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
991 So. 2d 411, 2008 WL 4329952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-parker-fladistctapp-2008.