Ferrari v. State, 4D14-464

• Decision Date: 21 November 2018
• Docket Number: No. 4D14-464,4D14-464
• Citation: 260 So.3d 295
• Parties: Anthony FERRARI, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

260 So.3d 295

Anthony FERRARI, Appellant,

v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 4D14-464

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

[November 21, 2018]

Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Paul Edward Petillo, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Melanie Dale Surber, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

Warner, J.

We grant the State's motion for rehearing, vacate our prior opinion, and substitute the following in its place.

In this appeal from his conviction for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder, appellant raises multiple issues. We find two require reversal. First, the trial court denied appellant's motion to suppress historical cell-site location information (CSLI). In Carpenter v. United States , ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S.Ct. 2206, 2217, 201 L.Ed.2d 507 (2018), the United States Supreme Court held that accessing historical cell phone location information constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment requiring a warrant and probable cause. Here, because the state acquired the CSLI without a warrant issued on probable cause, the court erred in denying the motion to suppress. Second, the court held that a mid-trial revelation of discovery that the State failed to disclose did not amount to a Richardson¹ violation. We hold that the State's failure to comply with its obligations under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220, by neglecting to disclose the substance of a codefendant's statements as well as the existence of exculpatory statements by another witness, constituted a discovery violation. On these grounds we reverse and remand for a new trial.

In 2005, the State charged appellant Anthony Ferrari, along with his codefendants Anthony Moscatiello and James Fiorillo, with the 2001 murder of Gus Boulis. Fiorillo pled to the charges in 2012, and a trial involving Moscatiello and Ferrari commenced in 2013. Moscatiello's attorney became ill during trial, and his trial was severed. Trial continued against Ferrari. Moscatiello was later tried, convicted, and sentenced upon the same essential testimony as was presented in the trial of Ferrari. Moscatiello appealed, and this court reversed his conviction for a new trial. Moscatiello v. State , 247 So.3d 11 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018). In our opinion, we extensively recited the facts, which are the essential facts of this appeal as well. We therefore repeat those facts for this opinion. We also add facts specifically relevant to Ferrari's trial. Furthermore, we will discuss additional facts within the issues to which they are relevant.

The Murder

On February 6, 2001, Gus Boulis, a successful businessman, left his office in Broward County around 9 p.m. As he was heading south on Miami Road, a car stopped in front of him. Boulis stopped his vehicle, and another car pulled in behind Boulis so that he was boxed in. An innocent bystander was in a third car that stopped behind the first two cars. A red Jetta pulled up behind the bystander's car. While they were all stopped in a row, a black Mustang came from the opposite direction, and pulled up next to Boulis's vehicle. Someone in the Mustang fired several shots, killing Boulis. After the shooting, the bystander noticed that the red Jetta behind him drove off the road around him, and then took off. Later, he saw the red Jetta circling the block, perhaps looking for him. The bystander memorized the partial tag number of the temporary tag on the Mustang and, when he got home, called 911. Testimony revealed that both the Mustang and the Jetta were owned by Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari, [the appellant] in this case.

The next day Dwayne Nicholson, an employee [or contractor] of Ferrari, called to report his knowledge about the murder. Eventually, he gave several statements implicating both Ferrari and Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello (appellant) in the murder. Thus, from 2001, the authorities knew of evidence connecting appellant to the murder. It took an additional four years for them to gather all the evidence and indict [Moscatiello], along with Ferrari and James Fiorillo, another employee of Ferrari, for the murder.

The State's theory of the case was that Moscatiello and Ferrari were hired by Adam Kidan to protect him from Boulis, from whom Kidan had purchased a business. For reasons somewhat unclear, Moscatiello determined that Boulis needed to be killed so that Moscatiello and Ferrari would not lose the protection payments from Kidan. The complicated story commences with the sale of the business from Boulis to Kidan. While there was some documentary evidence supporting meetings and payments, the direct testimony linking Moscatiello [and Ferrari] to the crime all came from witnesses each of whom received substantial benefits for their testimony.

The Prelude to the Murder

The victim, Gus Boulis, had become successful as the owner of Miami Subs sandwich shops before founding SunCruz Casinos, a fleet of gambling casino boats. Eventually, the Attorney General's office advised Boulis that he had to sell SunCruz because he wasn't an American citizen when he started the business. As a result, Boulis sold the business to Adam Kidan and Jack Abramoff. Boulis received $23 million in cash and was supposed to get another $20 million, which he never received. The business relationship between Boulis and Kidan soured. Kidan was afraid that Boulis might harm him in retaliation for lack of payment, so he reached out to his connections in New York, and asked Moscatiello to assist him. Kidan wanted the word out that he, Kidan, had "connections." Moscatiello introduced Kidan to Ferrari in Miami to provide security or protection. Ferrari bragged to people that he was John Gotti's nephew and head of the Gambino family in Florida.¹ For this protection, Kidan entered into a deal with Moscatiello for Moscatiello to be a "consultant" supplying beverages and paper goods for the gambling casino boat. Through Ferrari's business in Miami, Ferrari would arrange for Kidan's protection. Kidan paid Moscatiello monthly for the protection.

In November 2000, Moscatiello flew to Miami. Ferrari brought along Dwayne Nicholson and several other bodyguards as security to pick up Moscatiello from the airport. Ferrari, Moscatiello, and Nicholson rode in one vehicle, while the rest of the security team rode in others. While they were driving to a hotel, Nicholson testified that Ferrari and Moscatiello discussed the fact that they did not want to pay Boulis the extra money he was owed on the sale of Sun Cruz. Ferrari responded that Nicholson would take care of Boulis. Moscatiello turned to Nicholson and said, "Now, you know what he means ... we need Gus killed. Are you able to do it?" Nicholson did not say anything, because he thought he would be killed if he didn't agree. Ferrari had previously asked him whether he would kill Boulis, and Nicholson had declined.

The next day, Ferrari and Nicholson picked up Moscatiello and drove to the SunCruz office to show Nicholson the office, the ships, and the vehicle that Boulis drove. Moscatiello said that Boulis had to be taken care of prior to an upcoming court date. After Moscatiello was dropped off, Nicholson again complained to Ferrari that he wasn't going to kill Boulis. Ferrari told him just to surveil Boulis, and he would figure out later what to do.

Meanwhile, Kidan became frustrated with his relationship with Ferrari and his protection service. While Kidan was out of the country, he terminated his relationship with Ferrari. That same day, Boulis was killed.

The Murder and its Aftermath

James Fiorillo was another assistant to Ferrari, who was more like a son to him. Fiorillo did multiple errands for Ferrari and other tasks. On the day of the murder, Fiorillo arrived at Ferrari's home in a black Mustang belonging to Ferrari, which Fiorillo frequently drove. He then switched vehicles with Ferrari. Ferrari drove away, and Ferrari's girlfriend followed in his red Jetta. Fiorillo also had access to several of Ferrari's phones.

Although the innocent bystander witnessed the murder, he could not identify anyone in any of the vehicles. The partial license number he obtained did match up to the black Mustang. Thus, no independent witness testified as to who was present at the scene. However, Fiorillo knew about the murder and what occurred.

Fiorillo went to Ferrari's home after the murder. Ferrari gave him a bag containing a gun, which Fiorillo disposed of. Fiorillo also drove the Mustang to a repair shop. The next day, Fiorillo met with Ferrari and Moscatiello at a hotel. Moscatiello told Fiorillo to drive to New York and to report the Mustang as stolen, which he did. In New York, Fiorillo met with Moscatiello. When Moscatiello asked for the details of the events leading up to the murder and the murder itself, Moscatiello became very angry. He told Fiorillo to stay in New York, and Ferrari's girlfriend allowed Fiorillo to stay with her for a week there, after which he stayed in a hotel. Fiorillo worked for Moscatiello for a while and then returned to Florida sometime in April. Ultimately, Fiorillo was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder for which the State was seeking the death penalty, as the State originally believed that he was the shooter. He reached a plea deal in which he agreed to testify against Moscatiello and Ferrari in exchange for a six-year prison sentence.

When Kidan returned to Florida after the murder, he met Moscatiello in his hotel room and asked if he knew what happened. Moscatiello said, "Yes, it was very unfortunate, it wasn't supposed to happen that way." Moscatiello admitted that it was his decision. He explained that the plan was to kidnap Boulis, kill him, and bury his body on a farm where he would not be found for years. Kidan asked who was involved, and Moscatiello told him that the shooter came down from New York and went home on Amtrak. Fiorillo

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