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November 4, 2016 by admin

Criminal law — Evidence — Automobile accident privilege — Statute which excludes from evidence statements made by persons involved in automobile accident to law enforcement officer for purpose of completing accident report does not confer any benefit on defendant who fled scene of automobile crash that resulted in death

41
Fla. L. Weekly D2405a
op of Form

Criminal
law — Evidence — Automobile accident privilege — Statute which excludes from
evidence statements made by persons involved in automobile accident to law
enforcement officer for purpose of completing accident report does not confer
any benefit on defendant who fled scene of automobile crash that resulted in
death — Trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to exclude statements
made by her concerning automobile crash after she fled from scene

SHERICKA
WILLIAMS, Appellant, vs. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No.
3D14-2853. L.T. Case No. 14-1793. Opinion filed October 26, 2016. An Appeal
from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Robert J. Luck, Judge. Counsel:
Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Stephen J. Weinbaum, Assistant Public
Defender, for appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Jonathan
Tanoos, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

(Before
SHEPHERD, ROTHENBERG and SCALES, JJ.)

(SHEPHERD,
J.) The issue in this case is whether section 316.066(4) of the Florida
Statutes (2012), which excludes from evidence in any civil or criminal trial
statements made by a “person involved in an [automobile] crash . . . to a law
enforcement officer for the purpose of completing a crash report[,]” confers
any benefit on Shericka Williams, the appellant in this case, who fled the
scene of an automobile crash that resulted in death. For the reasons discussed
in State v. Ferguson, 405 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981) and Cummings
v. State
, 780 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), which we acknowledge treated
earlier versions of the same statutory scheme, we hold that the accident
privilege in section 316.066(4) does not confer any benefit or privilege on a
person who abandons her duty to remain at the scene of any automobile accident
which results in death, and who chooses instead to leave the scene of an
accident, contrary to section 316.027(1)(b) of the Florida Statutes (2013).

For
this reason, we approve the decision of the trial court which correctly denied
Williams’ dispositive motion to dismiss the statements made by her concerning
the automobile crash in this case after she fled from the scene, and affirm the
conviction and sentence for fleeing the scene of an accident.

Affirmed.

* *
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