Opinion ID: 1881447
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Internal Affairs Complaint Against Detective Visco

Text: As already noted, the defense's hypothesis of innocence at trial was that the seminal fluid found on the bedding at the crime scene had been planted. The defense suggested that Detective Chuck Visco, from the Monroe County Sheriffs Office, planted the evidence. According to the defense, Visco's motive generated from an internal affairs complaint that Overton filed against Detective Visco for stealing Overton's vehicle. Detective Visco was ultimately cleared of the charges in that complaint. The events leading to the complaint occurred when Overton's car was impounded and towed to the police station based on a traffic violation. Once there, the contents were inventoried, and Detective Visco, who was then the lead investigator in the murder of Rachelle Surrett, was called because there were apparently some suspicious items inside the vehicle. Based on these items, Detective Visco obtained a search warrant for the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, Detective Visco found a kit similar to that which Green testified that Overton confessed to using when committing burglaries. The vehicle was held for an unspecified period of time in conjunction with the Surrett murder investigation. Overton was never arrested in connection with the Surrett murder. At trial, the defense suggested to the court that it would not object to Detective Visco explaining that the complaint was unfounded or that he was cleared of any charges. However, defense counsel sought a ruling from the court that although the defense could question Detective Visco as to the filing of the complaint, the State could not inquire as to the circumstances surrounding the complaint. Particularly, the defense sought to eliminate any reference in this case to the Surrett murder investigation. [17] The State, on the other hand, asserted that to not allow an explanation of the surrounding circumstances would leave the false implication that, although he was cleared by the agency, there might have been some truth to the complaint filed by Overton. The prosecutor added: To imply that he [Detective Visco] had some sinister motive to fabricate evidence against the defendant in this case without him being able to talk about that ... valid, genuine investigation... tells half. The trial judge ruled that defense counsel was free to question Detective Visco as to the internal affairs complaint, but that he would permit Visco to explain the context within which it arose. First, we determine that the issue was properly preserved. Addressing the merits, the trial court's decision to allow the State to question Detective Visco as to the circumstances giving rise to the complaint if defense counsel questioned the detective about the complaint, does not constitute an abuse of discretion. To be sure, the trial court did not prevent defense counsel from questioning Detective Visco about the complaint. The judge simply ruled that if defense counsel opened the door by asking questions relating to the complaint, the State would be allowed to question the detective, during its cross-examination, about the circumstances surrounding the complaint. As an evidentiary principle, the concept of `opening the door' allows the admission of otherwise inadmissible testimony to `qualify, explain, or limit' testimony or evidence previously admitted. Ramirez v. State, 739 So.2d 568, 579 (Fla. 1999) (quoting Tompkins v. State, 502 So.2d 415, 419 (Fla.1986)); see also Rodriguez v. State, 753 So.2d 29, 42 (Fla.2000) (holding that where defendant sought to establish that witness disliked him and was biased against him, the State was allowed to ask questions which would shed light on the reasons for the possible bias or dislike, which included question relating to the witness's knowledge that the defendant had engaged in random acts of violence and blackmail). The notion of opening the door is premised on considerations of fairness and the truth-seeking function of a trial. Ramirez, 739 So.2d at 579 (quoting Bozeman v. State, 698 So.2d 629, 631 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)); see also McCrae v. State, 395 So.2d 1145, 1151 (Fla.1980) (holding that prosecutor was entitled to inquire into exact nature of a prior felony conviction where defense counsel sought to establish that that prior conviction was inconsequential); Washington v. State, 758 So.2d 1148, 1155 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) ([F]alse impression permitted the state to fill in the gaps in the truth so tactfully omitted during cross-examination.). In this case, defense counsel's reason for questioning the detective about the internal affairs complaint was to bolster the defense's position that the detective was biased against the defendant and therefore had a motive to plant the evidence. The facts indicate that the car was detained by Detective Visco during an unspecified period of time for a traffic violation. To have prevented the detective from explaining why the vehicle continued to be impounded for a mere traffic-related transgression would have given rise to a false implication (i.e., that the detective continued to hold the vehicle because of some of bias or improper motive against Mr. Overton and not because it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation). As a result, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling as it did.