Case Name: Brian LEWIS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1992-03-24
Citations: 597 So. 2d 842
Docket Number: No. 91-1072
Parties: Brian LEWIS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARKDULL and GERSTEN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 597
Pages: 842–847

Head Matter:
Brian LEWIS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 91-1072.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
March 24, 1992.
Rehearing Denied June 9, 1992.
Lavalle, Wochna, Raymond & Brown, and Kenneth J. Ronan, Boca Raton, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Angelica D. Zayas, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARKDULL and GERSTEN, JJ.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Brian Lewis (Lewis), appeals the denial of a motion to dismiss. We reverse.
Lewis, a thirty year old car salesman who had never been arrested, fatefully encountered Juan Carlos at a night club. Juan Carlos, a confidential informant for the Miami Beach Police Department, was particularly friendly to Lewis and insisted they go to another nightclub.
Juan Carlos, flashing a lot of money, paid for the entrance fee to the club, and for several drinks. During the course of the evening, Juan Carlos stated that he was involved in drug dealing.
Juan Carlos said there was a lot of money to be made in the business and offered Lewis cocaine. Lewis, however, refused. Juan Carlos told Lewis that if Lewis could introduce Juan Carlos to a purchaser of a kilo or more of cocaine, Lewis would make between $1,000 and $2,000. Lewis declined to get involved.
The next day, Juan Carlos repeatedly called Lewis's home and left messages on Lewis's answering machine. When Lewis returned the calls, Juan Carlos again offered $l,000-$2,000 for an introduction to a purchaser of cocaine. Lewis again declined, saying that he "didn't want to get involved."
Later on at work, Lewis spoke to Eugene Marzullo (Marzullo), a coemployee and co-defendant in this case. Lewis told Marzul-lo about his very unusual night (with Juan Carlos), and about Juan Carlos's offer. Marzullo expressed an interest in buying drugs and also offered to pay Lewis if the deal could be made. Meanwhile, Juan Carlos continued calling Lewis frequently at home and at work, insisting that Lewis find a buyer for the cocaine.
Finally, Lewis agreed to introduce Juan Carlos to Marzullo. A meeting was set up. Lewis brought Marzullo, who had $20,000 with him, to purchase the drugs. Juan Carlos, brought a detective, who posed as Juan Carlos's cousin. After the drug transaction was finalized, the police arrested both Lewis and Marzullo for trafficking in cocaine.
The unfolding of Juan Carlos's personal history shows that he had previously been arrested and convicted for trafficking in cocaine. Juan Carlos entered into a substantial assistance agreement with the State and was placed on probation.
At the time of Lewis's arrest, Juan Carlos had fulfilled his substantial assistance agreement. Juan Carlos, however, chose to continue living in the nether world of drugs and fast money. This convicted drug trafficker was working as an informant for pay. Juan Carlos's payment was neither contingent upon his testimony nor participation in trial. Juan Carlos's fee was contingent, in part, on the amount of property seized in an arrest.
Lewis moved to dismiss the charges against him, arguing: 1) violation of his due process rights; and, 2) objective entrapment. The trial court rejected both of Lewis's arguments and denied the motion. Lewis pled no contest, reserving his right to appeal.
On appeal, Lewis again argues that his due process rights under Article 1, Section 9, of the Florida Constitution, were violated. He claims he was randomly picked out by a police informant who was paid a contingent fee that was determined, in part, by the amount of property seized. Lewis further asserts that he was objectively entrapped because the police activity in question did not have as its end, the interruption of a specific ongoing criminal activity.
Appellee contends that because payment to the informant was not contingent on the informant testifying at trial, Lewis's due process rights were not violated. Appellee also argues that the issue of entrapment should be decided by a jury.
State v. Hunter, 586 So.2d 319 (Fla.1991), a case similar to this one, controls. In that case, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the argument that the appellant's due process rights had been violated. The court limited the holding of State v. Glosson, 462 So.2d 1082 (Fla.1985), to cases where the confidential informant's contingent fee was conditioned on his trial testimony.
Here, the confidential informant was not required to testify in order to receive his fee. Therefore, we must reject Lewis's due process argument. State v. Hunter, 586 So.2d at 321.
' However, the Hunter court also found that the appellant had been objectively entrapped by the police. The court gave trial courts guidance by stating:
To guide trial courts, we set out a threshold test for establishing entrapment: "entrapment has not occurred as a matter of law where police activity (1) has as its end the interruption of a specific ongoing criminal activity; and (2) utilizes means reasonably tailored to apprehend those involved in the ongoing criminal activity."
State v. Hunter, 586 So.2d at 322 [quoting from Cruz v. State, 465 So.2d 516 (Fla.), cert. denied, 473 U.S. 905, 105 S.Ct. 3527, 87 L.Ed.2d 652 (1985)].
The Hunter court reversed based on objective entrapment reasoning that neither part of the Cruz test had been met. The court in Hunter found that, like here, there was no "specific ongoing criminal activity" until the informant created such activity.
Similarly, in this case, we find that neither part of the Cruz test was satisfied. The first prong of the Cruz test was not met because Lewis was not involved in a specific ongoing criminal activity. In fact, there was no crime until Juan Carlos created it. It was Juan Carlos who flashed money, and persistently pursued Lewis, attempting to bring him into the drug trade. Also, the second prong of the Cruz test was not met because the police activity was not reasonably tailored to apprehend those involved in ongoing crime. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with instructions that Lewis be discharged.
Reversed and remanded.
BARKDULL and GERSTEN, JJ., concur.
. We are not unaware of the line of cases holding that the enactment of section 777.201, Florida Statutes, evinces a legislative intent to overrule Cruz. See, e.g., State v. Think Thien Pham and Hang Thi Vu, 595 So.2d 85 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Gonzalez v. State, 571 So.2d 1346 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), review denied, 584 So.2d 998 (Fla.1991). However, we choose to rely on our most recent Supreme Court cases on the issue. See State v. Krajewski, 589 So.2d 254 (Fla.1991); State v. Hunter, 586 So.2d 319 (Fla.1991).