Young v. State, 99-751.

Decision Date10 September 1999
Docket NumberNo. 99-751.,99-751.
Citation742 So.2d 418
PartiesElijah YOUNG, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Rebecca M. Becker, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Maximillian J. Changus, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for appellee.

COBB, J.

The issue on this appeal is whether the trial court could properly find that the appellant, Young, violated his probation by making hostile contact with the victim, White, when that finding was based on the hearsay testimony of an investigating officer to whom White related her version of the incident and on supporting photographs showing the injuries to White.

Young contends on appeal that although hearsay is admissible at a violation of probation hearing, it is error to revoke probation solely based on hearsay, citing several cases for that proposition. See, e.g., Purvis v. State, 397 So.2d 746 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)

. The state's response to this argument is that hearsay evidence supported by direct evidence can sustain a finding of probation violation; here, in addition to the hearsay, there were photographs of the injuries to White as well as the direct testimony by the officer as to her observations.1

In Morris v. State, 727 So.2d 975 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) we upheld the trial court's revocation of probation which was predicated upon the hearsay testimony of investigating officers as to what had been told to them by a mother and daughter at the scene of a domestic violence incident as well as upon the direct testimony of the officers as to what they observed at the scene: broken glass and shelves evidencing a struggle; a bruise and bite mark on the victim mother; the distraught appearance of both mother and daughter; and the belligerent attitude of the defendant at the scene.

In the instant case the hearsay testimony was supported by the officer's description of the distraught appearance of the victim when the officer responded to a 911 call; the officer described the physical appearance of the victim's wounds to her arm and mouth; and photographs of the victim's wounds were introduced into evidence. Morris is directly on point and is dispositive.

AFFIRMED.

DAUKSCH and GOSHORN, JJ., concur.

1. The state also argues that the officer's testimony as to what White had told her constituted an exception to the hearsay rule as an "excited...

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6 cases
  • Russell v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • May 1, 2008
    ...revoked. In doing so, the Fifth District followed its decisions in Arndt v. State, 815 So.2d 674 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), Young v. State, 742 So.2d 418 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), and Morris v. State, 727 So.2d 975 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). The Fifth District in all three cases held that the investigating ......
  • Arndt v. State, 5D01-2373.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 28, 2002
    ...other evidence".2 We disagree and conclude that, in revoking Arndt's probation, the trial court properly relied on Young v. State, 742 So.2d 418 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), rev. denied, 751 So.2d 1255 In Young, the defendant contended that the trial court improperly adjudicated him guilty of viola......
  • Stoll v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • April 6, 2000
    ...90.104." Jano, 524 So.2d at 661 (quoting Charles W. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 803.2 (2d ed.1984)); see also Young v. State, 742 So.2d 418, 419 n. 1 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), review denied, 751 So.2d 1255 (Fla. At trial, the State never asserted that Julie Stoll's statements were excited utter......
  • Blair v. State, 2D00-0235.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • September 14, 2001
    ...made by the victim constitute sufficient evidence of a violation of probation. The State relies primarily upon Young v. State, 742 So.2d 418 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), and Morris v. State, 727 So.2d 975 (Fla. 5th DCA We cannot agree with the State's conclusions. In Morris, hearsay evidence was su......
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