Savoie v. State

Citation422 So.2d 308
Decision Date10 November 1982
Docket NumberNo. 61083,61083
PartiesArmond P. SAVOIE, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Florida

Edward R. Kirkland, Orlando, for petitioner.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Barbara Ann Butler and Sean Daly, Asst. Attys. Gen., Daytona Beach, for respondent.

OVERTON, Justice.

This is a petition to review the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal reported as Savoie v. State, 401 So.2d 1138 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). We find conflict, as acknowledged by the district court in its opinion, with T.C. v. State, 336 So.2d 17 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), and Davis v. State, 226 So.2d 257 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

The issue before us arose from a denial of a motion to suppress made during trial. Although the trial judge heard the motion on the merits, he denied it both on the merits and on the ground of waiver, finding waiver because the motion was made during trial and was, therefore, not timely under the provisions of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(h)(4). On appeal, the district court affirmed the waiver ruling and refused to consider the denial on the merits. Under the circumstances of this case, we reject the district court's holding that waiver was the proper basis for denying the motion to suppress. The trial judge considered the motion on the merits, and we find that this renders the waiver issue moot. We further find that the trial judge correctly denied the motion to suppress on the merits. We have addressed this issue because, once we accept jurisdiction over a cause in order to resolve a legal issue in conflict, we may, in our discretion, consider other issues properly raised and argued before this Court. We, therefore, approve the result of the district court's decision.

We must detail the mostly uncontroverted facts in the record in order to properly address the issues in this cause. Petitioner, Armond Savoie, was charged by information with having committed bribery by corruptly giving the sum of five thousand dollars to Officer Stewart of the City of Winter Park police force with the intent to influence the performance of that officer by requesting that he destroy or dispose of evidence in two pending criminal cases. According to Officer Stewart's testimony, he met with Savoie in a restaurant in Clermont, Florida, at which time Savoie asked if he could dispose of the criminal charges pending against one James Savage, and, if so, how much this service would cost. Officer Stewart, who was an investigator in the Savage case, prepared simulated evidence to sell to Savoie. This simulated evidence consisted of fabricated video tapes and two envelopes containing money. Officer Stewart put police evidence tape on all of these items and marked them as evidence. He then contacted Savoie and arranged to meet him at a motel in Kissimmee, Florida. Several law enforcement officers were stationed in the room adjoining that in which Officer Stewart and Savoie were meeting.

Officer Stewart testified that, when he gave Savoie the simulated evidence, Savoie in turn gave him fifty $100 bills and that Savoie placed the simulated evidence in an attache case, which he locked, and left the room with the case. A short distance outside the room, Savoie was placed under arrest by one of the accompanying police officers; Savoie was carrying the attache case at the time of his arrest. The officer searched Savoie, handcuffed him, and took control of the attache case. During the search, the officer found the key to the attache case and immediately opened the case at the scene of the arrest. The search was conducted without a warrant and without Savoie's consent.

Savoie did not file a pre-trial motion to suppress the contents of the attache case, and the trial commenced on May 19, 1980. On May 20, during the testimony of the officer who made the arrest, the prosecution attempted to have him identify the contents of the attache case. Savoie's counsel objected, asserting that Savoie's constitutional rights had been violated. The trial judge excused the jury and heard the testimony of the officer as to the circumstances of the arrest and preliminary legal argument by counsel as to the validity of the search and seizure. A recess was then taken so that counsel and the court could research and examine relevant cases. It was only after the trial court had heard all the testimony from the arresting officer and full argument by both counsel on the merits of the motion to suppress that the state objected to the motion because it was not timely filed. The state asserted that Savoie had waived the right to make the motion to suppress by failing to make the motion before trial, as required by rule 3.190(h)(4). During the discussion which ensued on the waiver issue, the trial judge expressed concern that the state could not immediately appeal an adverse ruling on the motion as it could have done had a pre-trial motion to suppress been granted. Counsel for Savoie contested the waiver claim by contending that the discovery information furnished by the state did not adequately disclose that the contents of the attache case were to be submitted as evidence.

The trial judge, in ruling on the motion, stated: "On the merits ... I am going to deny the Motion to Suppress." The trial judge ruled alternatively, stating, "I think it has been waived." With regard to the motion's merits, the trial judge expressly relied on United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977), in finding that the search in this case was reasonable because it was made incident to a valid arrest and was not rendered invalid by the fact that the police did not believe that Savoie had access to a weapon in the attache case or was about to destroy evidence which might be contained in the case.

The district court affirmed the trial court's denial of the motion on the basis of waiver, reasoning that:

Because Savoie failed to move to suppress prior to the trial as required by the Rule when he was aware of the grounds for the motion and had ample opportunity to make the motion, we hold that he failed to preserve for appeal any error in the admission of the evidence.

Savoie, 401 So.2d at 1139. It did not address the trial court's ruling on the merits.

Waiver under Rule 3.190

The first issue we must address is whether Savoie's failure to make a pre-trial motion resulted in an absolute waiver of his right to contest the validity of the search and seizure of the contents of his attache case and the admission of these contents into evidence. The state contends that petitioner is not entitled to a hearing on the merits of the motion to suppress and that a waiver is the only appropriate sanction for enforcing the provisions of rule 3.190(h)(4).

Rule 3.190(h) concerns motions to suppress evidence obtained in an unlawful search and seizure. The relevant portions of the rule read as follows:

(2) Contents of Motion. Every motion to suppress evidence shall clearly state the particular evidence sought to be suppressed, the reasons for suppression and a general statement of the facts on which the motion is based.

(3) Hearing. Before hearing evidence, the court shall determine if the motion is legally sufficient. If it is not, the motion shall be denied. If the court hears the motion on its merits, the defendant shall present evidence supporting his position and the State may offer rebuttal evidence.

(4) Time for Filing. The motion to suppress shall be made before trial unless opportunity therefor did not exist or the defendant was not aware of the grounds for the motion, but the court may entertain the motion or an appropriate objection at the trial.

(Emphasis added.) This rule is designed to promote the orderly process of trial by avoiding the problems and delay caused when the trial judge must interrupt trial, remove the jury from the courtroom, and hear argument on a motion to suppress that could easily have been disposed of before trial. Davis v. State, 226 So.2d 257 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969). Also, when the rule is complied with, the state is afforded an opportunity to appeal the ruling of a trial judge in the event the evidence is suppressed; when the judge rules at trial to suppress evidence, the state is foreclosed from appealing that decision. See Fla.R.App.P. 9.140(c)(1)(B).

Rule 3.190(h)(4) does not, however, require that all motions to suppress be heard before trial. Rather, the rule expressly grants the trial judge discretionary authority to entertain either a motion to suppress or an objection to the introduction of certain evidence made during the course of the trial. This discretionary authority is necessary in order to avoid the sixth amendment ramifications which might result from the application of an absolute waiver rule against a defendant whose counsel failed to comply with the requirements of rule 3.190(h). Likewise, the rule does not affect the inherent power of the trial court to reconsider, while the court has jurisdiction of the case and upon appropriate motion or objection by either counsel, a ruling previously made on a motion to suppress.

We find that in the instant case the trial judge exercised his discretion to entertain the motion to suppress made during trial. He heard the proffer of testimony and the arguments of counsel on the validity of the search and seizure, and he ruled on the merits of the motion. In our opinion, the issue of waiver became moot because the hearing was held and a ruling made on the motion's merits. We fully agree with the statement in Davis that, if the judge

decides to entertain this motion it is then his decision that results in interruption of the trial, and once the trial has been interrupted the reason for the old rule vanishes, whether the judge subsequently grants or denies the motion.... [W]hen the trial judge proceeds to exercise his discretion to entertain the motion he has, in a sense, rejected defendant...

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