Supreme Court of Florida

A court of appeals decision reversing a conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is affirmed where a prior discovery deposition of a declarant by defendant's counsel did not qualify as a "prior opportunity for cross-examination" under Crawford, and the admission of the testimonial statement at trial violated defendant's confrontation rights. A decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal on the same issue is disapproved to the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/10/2008
• Published 01/10/2008

Judges

• QUINCE, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of Florida

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Robert R. Wheeler, Bureau Chief Criminal Appeals, and Felicia A. Wilcox, Assistant Attorneys General, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioner., Paula S. Saunders, Office of the Public Defender, Tallahassee, Florida, and Michael Robert Ufferman, Tallahassee, FL, for the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, as Amicus Curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Jamie Spivey, Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, FL, for Respondent.