Opinion ID: 2534158
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Jailhouse Phone Calls

Text: Twilegar contends that the trial court erred in admitting tapes of Twilegar's jailhouse phone calls. We disagree. The Confrontation Clause provides that [i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to ... be confronted with the witnesses against him. U.S. Const. amend. VI. This Court in Globe v. State, 877 So.2d 663 (Fla.2004), addressed a Confrontation Clause issue and held that the clause was not implicated where Globe and his codefendant, Busby, speaking together to a law enforcement officer, gave a joint taped statement in which they admitted killing a fellow inmate and where the tape was played at trial. The Court reasoned thusly: We have previously recognized that admissions by acquiescence or silence do not implicate the Confrontation Clause. See Nelson v. State, 748 So.2d 237 (Fla. 1999); see also United States v. Kehoe, 310 F.3d 579, 590-91 (8th Cir.2002) (holding that the Confrontation Clause did not guarantee the defendant the right to cross-examine a speaker whose statements were imputed to the defendant as adoptive admissions of a party opponent), cert. denied, 538 U.S. 1048, 123 S.Ct. 2112, 155 L.Ed.2d 1089 (2003). In Nelson, we held that because the codefendant's statements were admitted as admissions by silence, there could be no Confrontation Clause violation. We presented several factors that should be present to show that an acquiescence to the codefendant's statements did in fact occur. These factors include the following: 1. The statement must have been heard by the party claimed to have acquiesced. 2. The statement must have been understood by [the defendant]. 3. The subject matter of the statement is within the knowledge of the [defendant]. 4. There were no physical or emotional impediments to the person responding. 5. The personal make-up of the speaker or his relationship to the party or event are not such as to make it unreasonable to expect a denial. 6. The statement itself must be such as would, if untrue, call for a denial under the circumstances. See Nelson, 748 So.2d at 242 (quoting Privett v. State, 417 So.2d 805, 806 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)). The essential inquiry thus becomes whether a reasonable person would have denied the statements under the circumstances. Globe, 877 So.2d at 672-73 (emphasis added). The Court in Globe concluded as follows, based on the adoptive admissions exclusion to the hearsay rule: In this case, Globe was present during Busby's statement and had a chance to contradict what Busby said. A review of the transcript in this case makes it clear that Busby's statements were adopted by Globe. Instead of contradicting Busby's statements, Globe verbally affirmed what Busby said and added significant details to Busby's statement. The statements were properly admitted as adoptive admissions pursuant to section 90.803(18)(b). As we previously noted, statements admitted as adoptive admissions do not implicate the Confrontation Clause. Globe, 877 So.2d at 673. An adoptive admission is defined as follows: A statement of which the party has manifested an adoption or belief in its truth. § 90.803(18)(b), Fla. Stat. (2007). Applying the above law to the present case, we conclude that Twilegar has failed to show that the trial court erred in admitting the tapes of his jailhouse phone calls. First, to the extent Twilegar claims that use of the tapes constituted a Confrontation Clause violation, the Court's ruling in Globe is dispositive. As was the case in Globe, Twilegar was a knowing and active participant in the recorded conversations and he too, as did Globe, had ample opportunity to refute or contradict any of the statements that were adverse to his interests; instead, he acquiesced in the statements. To claim now that he is entitled to cross-examine the other participants in the conversations is disingenuous in light of the fact that he had previously acquiesced in their statements. As in Globe, the statements were properly admitted as adoptive admissions under section 90.803(18)(b), Florida Statutes (2007). As to whether the trial court erred in admitting the tapes in light of fact that use of the tapes could compel Twilegar to disclose his alleged drug dealing in order to explain certain statements in the tapes, the court did not err in this respect, for the court reasonably may have concluded that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of prejudicing the jury. See § 90.403, Fla. Stat. (2007). Accordingly, Twilegar has failed to show that the trial court erred with respect to this claim.