Webb v. State, 75--1355
| Citation | 336 So.2d 416 |
| Decision Date | 30 July 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75--1355,75--1355 |
| Parties | Jerry Bufkin WEBB, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
Walter R. Talley, Bradenton, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and William I. Munsey, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.
Appellant was convicted of sale of marijuana. We hold the court erred in excluding the evidence he proffered to show bias of the chief prosecution witness and further, in denying appellant's motion for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. We reverse.
Appellant Webb was charged with sale of marijuana to Officer Carnahan of the Anna Maria Police Department. Carnahan testified the sale occurred in the parking lot of the Anchorage Bar in Anna Maria, at approximately 9:45 P.M., on May 28, 1975. The transaction took no more than two or three minutes, and Webb returned to the bar. Carnahan also met a Mr. Neville outside, talked with him for fifteen or twenty minutes, and returned to the bar with Neville before finally departing.
Appellant denied making the sale. While he acknowledged he had been talking with Carnahan inside the bar, he testified that he left the premises by himself shortly after 9:00 and did not return. The testimony of three other witnesses on behalf of appellant, while varying as to exact times, tended to establish that Webb and Carnahan had both been in the bar throughout the early evening, that Webb left the bar about 45 minutes before Carnahan, and that when Carnahan left, he went with Mr. Neville, not appellant. This testimony came from the bartender and Mr. and Mrs. Klingensmith, two patrons at the bar. The bartender said that appellant left the bar at 9:45 and Carnahan left with Neville at 10:30. Mrs. Klingensmith said she didn't see appellant after 9:00 and Carnahan left with Neville between 9:30 and 10:00. Mr. Klingensmith said he did not see appellant leave, but Carnahan left with Neville between 9:30 and 9:45. However, all these witnesses admitted they did not watch appellant and Carnahan constantly, and two of them conceded that Webb and Carnahan could have exited the bar momentarily without their knowledge and completed the sale.
Appellant had brought suit against the City of Anna Maria and its Police Chief for false arrest on April 14, 1975, but he was not permitted to testify about this suit. Moreover, the court refused to permit Robert Franklin, formerly Chief Detective of the Anna Maria Police Department, to testify concerning a conversation that Franklin claimed to have had with the Police Chief approximately two weeks before Webb's arrest. Franklin testified on proffer that he talked to the Police Chief and mentioned Webb's civil suit and the possibility of arresting Webb on a DWI charge to discourage him from prosecuting that suit. The Chief replied that Franklin should not worry about it because Mr. Webb was 'being taken care of.'
We hold that this evidence was improperly excluded. Bias or prejudice of a witness has an important bearing on his credibility, and evidence tending to show such bias is relevant. We make no comment on the merits of appellant's defense, that he was 'framed' by the police department because of his civil suit, but we hold he was entitled to have that evidence presented to the jury. Here, both appellant's and Franklin's testimony would have shed light on any bias or interest the Police Chief and his subordinates may have had in the outcome of appellant's criminal trial. It has frequently been held that the existence of a civil suit by a witness against a criminal defendant is relevant to show such potential bias in the criminal trial. See Bessman v. State, Fla.App.3d 1972, 259 So.2d 776; Annot., 21 A.L.R.2d 1078. We think the situation is not essentially different where, as here, it is the defendant who brought a civil suit prior to being charged with the crime. And, the fact that Carnahan himself was not a party to the civil suit makes no material difference. The city which employed Carnahan and the city's Police Chief were parties and it is sufficient that they may have had a bias against him. See 81 Am.Jur.2d, Witnesses, § 552. The Police Chief's alleged statement to Franklin, although hearsay, would fall under...
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Childers v. State
...Bias or prejudice of a witness has an important bearing on his credibility and evidence showing such bias is relevant. Webb v. State, 336 So.2d 416 (Fla.App.2d DCA 1976). It is proper to elicit facts tending to show bias or prejudice of a witness in cross-examination of that witness. Davis ......
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...at issue: the cross-examination must be designed to elicit a specific personal 2 bias on the part of the witness. In Webb v. State, 336 So.2d 416 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1976) the Court, in reversing a narcotics conviction, held that the lower court erred in improperly limiting the scope of cross-......
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McDuffie v. State, 76--460
...Bias or prejudice of a witness has an important bearing on his credibility and evidence showing such bias is relevant. Webb v. State, 336 So.2d 416 (Fla.App.2d DCA 1976). It is proper to elicit facts tending to show bias or prejudice of a witness in cross-examination of that witness. Davis ......
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