Law Updates for July 23, 2010

Ray, 35 FLW 1552, 4th DCA, vehicle stop - No reasonable suspicion that def had committed a crime at the time of the traffic stop. Officer monitoring the neighborhood based on recent complaints of drug dealing observed def drive up and stop in the middle of the road and engage in a hand-to-hand exchange with unknown adult male. Traffic violation that occurred after the emergency lights were activated not a basis for finding the stop was lawful. Evidence subsequent to the stop suppressed.

Williams, 35 FLW 1554, 4th DCA, Severance - Error to fail to sever GT of a firearm charge from the manslaughter charge that occurred the next day based on an alleged accidental shooting of his friend. Collateral crime evidence, presumptively harmful and prejudicial, outweighs the relevancy of the jury hearing the GT charge.

Ward, 35 FLW 1156, 4th DCA, Error to give the jury instruction regarding inference to be drawn from possession of recently stolen property, where victim could not positively ID the def as one of the two assailants at the scene of the crime, and where stolen property was never found in the def's possession.




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