DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

FOURTH DISTRICT

JERRY WARD,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

No. 4D13-417

[May 27, 2015]

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, 

Broward County; Barbara McCarthy, Judge; L.T. Case No. 09-004216 

CF10A.

Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Nan Ellen Foley, Assistant 

Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Heidi L. 

Bettendorf, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

CIKLIN, J.

Jerry Ward appeals from his convictions and sentences for trafficking 

in cocaine by possession of 200 grams or more but less than 400 grams 

of cocaine, possession of alprazolam, possession of cannabis, possession 

of drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer without violence. Because 

the trial court erred by not addressing an alleged state discovery 

violation, reversal is required.

During the execution of a search warrant, Detective Todd Hill 

observed Ward climbing out of the window of a house where a trove of 

drugs was confiscated. Ward fled the scene but was transported to the 

hospital after an officer restrained him by taser. The search also

uncovered more than $8,000 in cash. Much of the cash was made up of 

small denomination bills – twenties, tens, and fives. 

Prior to trial, the state filed its discovery exhibit. Detective Melvin 

Burroughs was listed as a Category A witness but not designated as an 

expert. In the portion of the exhibit entitled “Reports or statements of 
2

experts,” the state provided the following:

Yes. Chemists Lab #09-6247, Ballistics Lab #09-6178 

(Additional Testing To Be Done By Chemists Before And/Or 

During Trial), Firearms, Fingerprints, Handwriting, Medical, 

and Listed Police Officers.

The curriculum vitae for any Category B expert witness is 

available for inspection upon request.

(Emphasis added).

Two crime lab employees were listed as category B witnesses; 

Burroughs was not.

Prior to trial, defense counsel moved for and was able to secure an 

order in limine excluding evidence of the usual practices of drug dealers. 

Deep into trial and notwithstanding the pre-trial order of exclusion, the 

state sought to have Detective Burroughs treated as an expert on streetlevel narcotics and the modus operandi of street-level drug dealers. 

Defense counsel objected, arguing that—because of the pre-trial nondisclosure—he did not know Burroughs would be testifying as an expert. 

He pointed out that the state did not list Burroughs as an expert witness, 

and thereupon defense counsel requested a hearing pursuant to 

Richardson v. State, 246 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1971). 

The state argued it complied with its discovery obligation, as “Listed 

Police Officers” were recited in the portion of the state’s discovery exhibit 

disclosing “Reports or statements of experts.” With minimal discussion, 

the trial court agreed with the state that there was no discovery violation, 

and ruled that Burroughs could testify as an expert. Burroughs took the 

stand and testified that the small denominations of the cash found in the 

house were consistent with street-level drug sales.

We have elaborated on a trial court’s role when a discovery violation 

has been alleged: If there is a possibility of a discovery violation, “the 

trial court must inquire as to whether the violation (1) was willful or 

inadvertent; (2) was substantial or trivial; and (3) had a prejudicial effect 

on the aggrieved party's trial preparation.” Thomas v. State, 63 So. 3d 55, 

59 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (citation and quotation marks omitted). Further,

Where a discovery violation has occurred, the failure to 

conduct a Richardson hearing is not per se reversible 

error, but rather is subject to a harmless error analysis.
3

See State v. Schopp, 653 So. 2d 1016, 1020–21 (Fla.

1995). The relevant inquiry is “whether there is a 

reasonable possibility that the discovery violation 

‘materially hindered the defendant’s trial preparation or 

strategy.’” Scipio v. State, 928 So. 2d 1138, 1150 (Fla.

2006). . . . An analysis of procedural prejudice 

“considers how the defense might have responded had it 

known about the undisclosed piece of evidence and 

contemplates the possibility that the defense could have 

acted to counter the harmful effects of the discovery 

violation.” Scipio, 928 So. 2d at 1149.

Kipp v. State, 128 So. 3d 879, 883 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (quoting Durrance 

v. State, 44 So. 3d 217, 221 (Fla. 2010)). 

The required focus is on how the defense might have responded and

not on whether the undisclosed evidence affected the verdict. Scipio, 928 

So. 2d at 1149. The state’s burden to show the discovery violation is 

harmless is “extraordinarily high.” Hicks v. State, 45 So. 3d 518, 524

(Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (quoting Cox v. State, 819 So. 2d 705, 712 (Fla. 

2002)). ‘“[T]he vast majority of cases’ will not have a record sufficient to 

support a finding of harmless error . . . .” Scipio, 928 So. 2d at 1148 

(quoting Schopp, 653 So. 2d at 1021). 

The version of the discovery rule in effect when the state filed its 

exhibit required the state to disclose Category A witnesses, including

“expert witnesses who have not provided a written report and a 

curriculum vitae or who are going to testify to test results or give 

opinions that will have to meet the test set forth in Frye v. United States, 

293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923).” Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.220(b)(1)(A)(i) (2009). 

Any other experts were required to be disclosed as Category B witnesses. 

See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.220(b)(1)(A)(ii) (2009) (requiring disclosure of “[a]ll

witnesses not listed in either Category A or Category C.”)1

However, in 2010, while the trial in this case was pending, the rule 

was amended to delete language at the end of the provision regarding 

Category A expert witnesses. The rule now requires disclosure of “expert 

witnesses who have not provided a written report and a curriculum vitae 

or who are going to testify.” Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.220(b)(1)(A)(i) (2010).

1 Category C witnesses are “witnesses who performed only ministerial functions 

or whom the prosecutor does not intend to call at trial and whose involvement 

with and knowledge of the case is fully set out in a police report or other 

statement furnished to the defense.” Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.220(b)(1)(A)(iii) (2009).
4

Here, the state listed Detective Burroughs as a Category A witness but 

did not designate him as an expert. Our cases have made it clear that 

under either version of the rule, designation as an expert is required. 

See Kipp, 128 So. 3d at 881 (applying amended version of the rule and 

finding that it is not sufficient to list an expert witness as a Category A 

witness, and that the state has to “indicate that the witness will testify as 

an expert”); Thomas, 63 So. 3d at 59 (applying former version of rule and 

finding that “[f]ailing to list a witness as an expert, even when the 

witness is listed as a Category A witness, is a discovery violation”); see 

also Kearse v. State, 770 So. 2d 1119, 1127 (Fla. 2000) (recognizing that 

rule 3.220 “imposes obligations on both parties, including a list of expert 

witnesses”). 

We recognize that our sister court has opined in dicta that under the 

amended version of the rule, it may be enough to list an officer who will 

testify as an expert as a Category A witness, even without designating the 

witness as an expert. See Henry v. State, 42 So. 3d 328, 329 n.2 (Fla. 2d 

DCA 2010). We disagree. First, it does not appear that the decisions in 

the pre-amendment cases hinged on the language of rule 3.220(b)(1)(A)(i) 

that has since been deleted. Second, we note that to read the amended 

rule as permitting the state to list expert witnesses without designating 

them as such would go against the very purpose and spirit of discovery 

rules. As the Florida Supreme Court has explained:

Florida’s criminal discovery rules are designed to prevent 

surprise by either the prosecution or the defense. Their 

purpose is to facilitate a truthful fact-finding process. . . . 

This Court has held that the chief purpose of our discovery 

rules is to assist the truth-finding function of our justice 

system and to avoid trial by surprise or ambush. 

Because full and fair discovery is essential to these 

important goals, we have repeatedly emphasized not only 

compliance with the technical provisions of the discovery 

rules, but also adherence to the purpose and spirit of those 

rules in both the criminal and civil context.

Scipio, 928 So. 2d at 1144 (internal citations and quotation marks 

omitted).

We find that the state’s reference to “Listed Police Officers” in the 

portion of the exhibit related to reports or statements of experts was 
5

wholly insufficient to bring the state in compliance with its discovery 

obligation regarding the designation of Detective Burroughs as an expert 

witness. 

Here, Burroughs’ testimony was brief. Even so, the state has an 

“extraordinarily high” burden in establishing that a discovery violation is 

harmless. On this record, we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that 

Ward was not procedurally prejudiced by the discovery violation. See 

Schopp, 653 So. 2d at 1021 (“[O]nly if the appellate court can say beyond 

a reasonable doubt that the defense was not procedurally prejudiced by 

the discovery violation can the error be considered harmless.”).

Accordingly, we have no choice but to reverse and remand for a new 

trial. 

Reversed and remanded for new trial.

STEVENSON and KLINGENSMITH, JJ., concur.

* * *

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.