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State v. Muldowny2/27/2004
ls, maintenance manuals and schematics of the intoxilyzer used to test the defendant when the results of the test are intended for use to affect the driving privileges of or assess penalties against that defendant?
We answer that question in the affirmative.
Having answered the first part of the question in the affirmative, we turn to the issue of whether exclusion of the breath test results was an appropriate remedy for the State's failure to provide the documentation.
Exclusion of evidence is a permissible sanction for the violation of a discovery rule. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.220(n)(1). But the sanction should be imposed only if no other remedy suffices. Miller v. State, 636 So. 2d 144, 149 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994).
If, during the course of the proceedings, it is brought to the attention of the trial court that the state has failed to comply with rule 3.220, the court must conduct a hearing to determine whether the state's violation was inadvertent or willful, whether the violation was trivial or substantial, and, most importantly, what effect, if any, the violation had upon the ability of the defendant to prepare adequately for trial. (citation omitted).
Only after the court has made a sufficient inquiry into all of the surrounding circumstances may it exercise its discretion to determine whether the state's noncompliance with the disclosure rule resulted in harm or prejudice to the defendant, thereby requiring the imposition of some sanction, such as exclusion of the evidence.
Lowery v. State, 610 So. 2d 657, 659 (Fla. 1992) (citing Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771, 775 (Fla. 1971)).
In the instant case, the State's failure to comply with the order to produce frustrated the defendants' quest to determine if the specific intoxilyzer used to test them had been substantially modified by the inclusion of parts that were not on the schematic of a machine approved by FDLE. Clearly, the State's discovery violation caused prejudice and harm to the defendants' ability to make a determination of the subject machine's internal makeup. See, e.g., Miller v. State, 636 So. 2d at 149 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Hatcher v. State, 568 So. 2d 572, 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). In this case, the State's discovery violation prevented the defendants from properly preparing their cases for trial. See, e.g., Duarte v. State, 598 So. 2d 270, 271-72 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). Accordingly, we answer the second part of the county court's certified question in the affirmative and find the trial court was within its discretion in excluding the breath test results and remand for further proceedings.
AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.
GRIFFIN and PALMER, JJ., concur.
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