State v. Nova

• Decision Date: 27 July 1978
• Docket Number: No. 51921,51921
• Citation: 361 So.2d 411
• Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Louis NOVA, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 411

361 So.2d 411

STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Louis NOVA, Respondent.

No. 51921.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 27, 1978.

Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Ira N. Loewy, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for petitioner.

Bernard S. Yedlin, Miami, for respondent.

ALDERMAN, Justice.

This cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of the District Court in Nova v. State, 346 So.2d 1214 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), which directly conflicts with Gerrard v. State, 345 So.2d 849 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); State v. Roman, 309 So.2d 12 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975), cert. dismissed 312 So.2d 761 (Fla.1975); and Sheff v. State, 301 So.2d 13 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974), aff'd 329 So.2d 270 (Fla.1976), which hold that, on a motion to suppress, the trial judge's conclusions of fact come to the reviewing court clothed with a presumption of correctness, and in testing the accuracy of these conclusions, the appellate court must interpret the evidence and all reasonable deductions and inferences which may be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the trial judge's conclusions.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article V, Section 3(B)(3), Florida Constitution.

In the present case, the defendant, Louis Nova, was tried, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the first degree murder of his girl friend, Belinda Revel. The defendant filed a pre-trial motion to suppress the testimony of Juanita Bentley concerning a threat he made against Belinda Revel during a telephone conversation he had with Revel prior to her death, which conversation was overheard by Bentley on an extension telephone. The motion to suppress was denied by the trial court.

The defendant raised two issues on appeal: whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress Bentley's testimony concerning the telephone conversation and whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction for first degree murder. The District Court reversed as to the first point but did not reach the second. After determining that Juanita Bentley's testimony did not fall within the exclusion of Section 934.02(4)(a), Florida Statutes (1975), the District Court held that Bentley's testimony should have been suppressed. It expressly found:

While Juanita Bentley was Belinda Revel's supervisor, we are convinced that her "eavesdropping" was not done in her capacity as supervisor but was instead satisfying her curiosity. As Miss Bentley, herself, stated, "I just wanted to know who it was that was calling her." Miss Bentley also testified that she found it "funny" that an older man, appellant, age 53, was continuously calling a younger woman, the deceased, age 22.

In this case, the District Court, on a factual issue, substituted its judgment for that of the trial court and, thereby, created conflict with the above cited decisions.

On the merits of the appeal, we conclude that the decision of the District Court is wrong and should be reversed. Section 934.06 provides:

Prohibition of use as evidence of intercepted wire or oral communications. Whenever any wire or oral communication has been intercepted, no part of the contents of such communication and no evidence derived therefrom may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority of the state, or a political subdivision thereof, if the disclosure of that information would be in violation of this chapter.

The word "intercept" is defined in Section 934.02(3):

"Intercept" means the aural acquisition of the contents of any wire or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device; . . . .

The term "electronic, mechanical,...