Saylor v. State, 86-110
Decision Date | 22 July 1986 |
Docket Number | No. 86-110,86-110 |
Citation | 491 So.2d 340,11 Fla. L. Weekly 1597 |
Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1597 Bruce Robert SAYLOR and Patrick Robin Hirst, Appellants, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Bruce Rogow, Fort Lauderdale and Edward J. McHale, for appellant hirst.
Edward J. O'Donnell, Jr., Miami, for appellant Saylor.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Richard L. Kaplan, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before HUBBART, BASKIN and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.
Bruce Saylor and Patrick Hirst, charged in a two-count information with possessing cocaine and conspiring with one another to traffic in cocaine, were convicted on the conspiracy count only. They contend on appeal, as they did below, that there is no evidence from which a reasonable-minded jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt their guilt of the crime of conspiracy. 1 We agree and reverse with directions to discharge the defendants. 2
The evidence, viewed most favorably to the State and consisting entirely of the testimony of a single police officer, Thomas Helms, reveals that Helms, having learned from an informant that a cocaine sale could be made at a certain motel, obtained four kilograms of cocaine from the police property room and accompanied the informant to the motel. There the informant introduced Helms to the defendant Hirst in the lobby, and all three went upstairs to a room where Helms met Saylor. There is absolutely no evidence that Hirst said anything during an ensuing conversation between Helms and Saylor about doing a cocaine deal, or that there was any suggestion by Saylor, in which Hirst might be said to have acquiesced by his silence, that Hirst had agreed with Saylor to buy the cocaine from Helms. The sole remaining testimony pertaining to Hirst's activities is that when Helms left the room and went downstairs to get the cocaine, Hirst went with him; and when they returned to the motel room, Helms gave three boxes of cocaine to Hirst, which Hirst placed on the counter. Helms gave the remaining box to Saylor, who proceeded to open it and examine the cocaine.
Assuming, arguendo, that the recited evidence would support the conclusion that Hirst was aiding and abetting Saylor's purchase and possession of cocaine, and that Hirst, himself, had committed the substantive offense of possession, this court's decisions in Ashenoff v. State, 391 So.2d 289 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), and Ramirez v. State, 371 So.2d 1063 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), cert. denied, 383 So.2d 1201 (Fla.1980), make clear that although sufficient to prove these substantive crimes, this evidence does not establish the crime of conspiracy. As was stated in Ashenoff:
391 So.2d at 291 (citations omitted).
In Ashenoff, an officer and a confidential informant went to defendant Restucci's residence where the officer discussed marijuana with Restucci and another person. Id. at 290. Restucci remained at home while the officer followed Ashenoff, Emmons, and another man to a different residence. The owner of that residence led the officer, Ashenoff and the other man to a truck which contained a large quantity of marijuana. Emmons remained in the house. The bales were selected by the officer and his cohorts and handed to Ashenoff. Ashenoff, Emmons and...
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Voto v. State, 4-86-1328
...evidence of participation in any underlying understanding or agreement. Ashenoff, 391 So.2d at 289; Manner at 1014; Saylor v. State, 491 So.2d 340 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Ramirez v. State, 371 So.2d 1063 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), cert. denied, 385 So.2d 1201 (Fla. 1980). We therefore conclude that th......
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Velunza v. State, 85-766
...1980) (citations omitted), a conspiracy may not be inferred from the offense which is the object of the conspiracy. See Saylor v. State, 491 So.2d 340 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). Because the record does not establish an agreement and an intention to commit the specific offense of conspiracy to traf......
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Ochoa v. State, 87-1967
...PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Squires v. State, 450 So.2d 208 (1984); Velunza v. State, 504 So.2d 780 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Saylor v. State, 491 So.2d 340 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); Fuller v. State, 406 So.2d 1212 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Ashenoff v. State, 391 So.2d 289 (Fla. 3d DCA ...
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McCants v. State, 90-2640
...a conspiracy may not be inferred solely from conduct which merely aids and abets an offense. Ashenoff; see also, Saylor v. State, 491 So.2d 340 (Fla.3d DCA 1986); The appellant was not shown to have communicated or otherwise revealed an intention to rob the victim when he suggested that the......