Urquhart v. State

211 So. 2d 79
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 29, 1968
Docket67-216
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 211 So. 2d 79 (Urquhart v. State) 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
Urquhart v. State, 211 So. 2d 79 (Fla. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

211 So.2d 79 (1968)

William URQUHART, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 67-216.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. Second District.

May 29, 1968.
Rehearing Denied June 20, 1968.

*80 Henry Gonzalez, Tampa, for appellant.

Earl Faircloth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Robert R. Crittenden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lakeland, for appellee.

LILES, Chief Judge.

The defendant seeks reversal of a judgment and sentence entered pursuant to a jury verdict finding defendant guilty of buying, receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen property in violation of Florida Statute § 811.16, F.S.A.

On appeal the defendant raises several points, one of which challenges a jury instruction given by the trial judge. The instruction complained of is as follows:

"If you find from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the articles listed in the Information, or any of them, were stolen from Mr. and Mrs. Kent McKinley and the said articles, or some of them, were found in the possession of the defendant, the unexplained possession thereof by the defendant may be regarded by you as some evidence that the defendant knew they were stolen. In such case, the guilty knowledge, if any, of the accused does not follow as a presumption of law from the unexplained possession of the property recently stolen. That is to say, there is no conclusive presumption and you are not required to find that the person accused did have such knowledge. The presumption is one that the Jury may infer as a matter of fact, of which you are the sole judges, and which is to be considered by you in connection with all the other circumstances in the case. The circumstance of one being found in possession of recently stolen property is one which may be considered as showing a tendency toward guilt." (Emphasis ours.)

It appears from the record that the police upon confronting the defendant immediately placed him under arrest. In Young v. State, Fla.App. 1967, 203 So.2d 650, 652, *81 the Fourth District Court of Appeal when presented with a similar instruction said:

"The instruction given to the jury had the effect to demand of the defendant an affirmative explanation for the reason the stolen goods were in his possession. At the same time defendant being in police custodial interrogation within the meaning of Miranda would have had the privilege to remain silent. The privilege to remain silent would be a hollow privilege if that silence would create an inference of guilt at the trial. The fact that the defendant remained silent was used against him at trial in the form of the aforementioned jury instruction in violation of the defendant's Fifth Amendment privilege under the Miranda decision."

We followed Young in Gamble v. State, Second District Court of Appeal, 210 So.2d 238, Opinion filed May 8, 1968, stating:

"The rule in this regard is that if the prisoner is alone and indicates in any manner that he does not wish to be questioned the police may not interrogate him. When the prisoner herein refused to talk any more and remained silent, he had claimed the `privilege' within the meaning of Miranda and his failure to completely explain possession of the stolen T-V set could not thereafter create an inference of guilt at his trial."[1]

Under the authority of Miranda v. State of Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), Gamble v. State, supra, and Young v. State, supra, we hold that the trial court committed reversible error by giving the instruction in question.[2] It should be noted, however, that the trial court did not have the benefit of Gamble and Young as they were filed subsequent to the trial of this cause.

On appeal defendant also complains of the admission into evidence of seven exhibits. These exhibits were admitted into evidence despite defendant's objections and despite his motion to suppress which was denied without opinion. Since the defendant may be tried again, we feel obligated to pass upon his contentions concerning the admissibility of these exhibits.

Although there is much conflict in the record the essential facts surrounding the seizure of the exhibits in question appear to be as follows:

Peace officers of several agencies had been checking on the activities of defendant and had been keeping under surveillance the home of one Mrs. Yolanda Salgado, from whom defendant rented a room.

On the afternoon of March 11, 1966, an arrest warrant for an alleged breaking and entering in Pinellas County was delivered to an officer at the Tampa Police Department. At approximately 8:30 that evening this same officer observed the defendant driving an automobile about two blocks from the home of Mrs. Salgado. The officer, who was also in a car, followed the defendant to the home of Mrs. Salgado, however, the officer made no attempt to arrest defendant at this time even though he had the arrest warrant in his possession. The officer then summoned other peace officers from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, the Tampa Police Department, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department. *82 In all a total of eleven officers assembled across the street from the home of Mrs. Salgado.[3] Five or six of the officers went to the front door of the Salgado home and the remainder went to the back door. When asked what then ensued, Inspector Salla[4] of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department testified as follows on direct examination:

"Q Now, were you the officer that knocked on the door before anybody entered the house?
A Yes, sir, I was.
Q Who came to the door?
A I knocked at the door and a young lady came to the door, was later identified as being Mrs. Butts, and I told her who I was and I wanted to see Bill Urquhart. She turned around and at that time told Bill Urquhart, `Someone here at the door wants to see you.' As she did, I pushed it completely open and walked in. At that time, I told Bill that we had a warrant for his arrest and I walked into the living room and I was followed there by several other officers. I believe one of them was Don Anderson, Lt. Frazier and there was two or three other officers behind me."

On cross-examination the following colloquy took place:

"Q Did anyone give you permission to go into that house?
A Well, we had a warrant for his arrest. That gave us permission to go in there and arrest him. Based on that, the warrant indicates anywheres where he was found. He was found in this house. As she, as Mrs. Butts partially opened the door, I looked over to the left of the living room and I could see him sitting there at the end of the settee there. So, I walked in and at that time instructed him that we had a warrant for his arrest.
Q Inspector Salla, are you telling us that you actually could see a man sitting inside and you are outside, to the side? Did you poke your head inside the house?
A I looked in through the door. I just did like this. The door was partially open and he was sitting there and she, when I asked her about Bill Urquhart, she said, she turned around, said, `Well, Bill, there is someone here wants to see you.'
Q And you went right in?
A I pushed the door in and looked over there and there he was.

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Bluebook (online)
211 So. 2d 79, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/urquhart-v-state-fladistctapp-1968.