Opinion ID: 1665225
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Exclusion of Answering Machine Audiotape

Text: Ibar next argues that the trial court erroneously precluded the defense from eliciting evidence of a third-party motive and the poor reputation for veracity of a State's witness. Ibar sought to introduce as evidence a tape recording made on Sucharski's answering machine just days before the murders. In that recording Sucharski's ex-live-in girlfriend Kristal Fisher called Sucharski and wanted to get her clothes and jewelry from his house. A transcript of the recording indicates that the two fought about the clothes and jewelry and about Fisher's new boyfriend. Section 934.06, Florida Statutes (1999), prohibits the contents of an intercepted communication from being received in evidence in any trial if the disclosure of that information would be in violation of this chapter. A lawful interception of communications occurs when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent. See § 934.03(2)(d), Fla. Stat. (1999). There is no indication in the tape or the testimony that Fisher knew Sucharski was taping their conversation. Defense counsel wanted to introduce the taped conversation through the testimony of Sucharski's employee Peter Bednarz, who could identify Sucharski's and Fisher's voices, and who knew that they were fighting. Bednarz was not a party to the phone conversation; nor was Fisher called by either party to testify at trial. Because there was no evidence that Fisher knew of the recording, the trial court's refusal to admit the recording was not an abuse of discretion.