TAYLOR v. STATE (2019)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

Seth TAYLOR, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Case No. 2D18-1598

Decided: June 28, 2019

Terry P. Roberts of Law Office of Terry P. Roberts, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and David Campbell, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

Seth Taylor appeals from the trial court's judgment of criminal contempt. We do not doubt for an instant that the trial judge heard what he maintains he heard. But we have read the official transcript and have repeatedly listened to the official recording of the shelter hearing, and competent substantial evidence does not support a finding that it was Taylor who said it. See Almeida v. State, 737 So. 2d 520, 524 n.9 (Fla. 1999) (conducting an independent review of the transcript and tape of a custodial interrogation, concluding that the audiotape “belied” one of the trial court's factual findings, and recognizing that insofar as a ruling is based on a videotape or audiotape, the trial court “has no special vantage point”); State v. Thompson, 193 So. 3d 916, 919 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (“An appellate court may independently review the audio recording of an interview to assess whether competent, substantial evidence supports the trial court's findings.” (citing Cuervo v. State, 967 So. 2d 155, 160 (Fla. 2007))).

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed.

ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, Judge.

BLACK and SALARIO, JJ., Concur.

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