Williams v. State , 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 15884 ( 2016 )

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed October 26, 2016.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D14-2853
Lower Tribunal No. 14-1793
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Shericka Williams,
Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Robert J. Luck,
Judge.
Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Stephen J. Weinbaum, Assistant
Public Defender, for appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Jonathan Tanoos, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Before SHEPHERD, ROTHENBERG and SCALES, JJ.
SHEPHERD, J.
The issue in this case is whether section 316.066(4) of the Florida Statutes
(2012), which excludes from evidence in any civil or criminal trial statements
made by a “person involved in an [automobile] crash . . . to a law enforcement
officer for the purpose of completing a crash report[,]” confers any benefit on
Shericka Williams, the appellant in this case, who fled the scene of an automobile
crash that resulted in death. For the reasons discussed in State v. Ferguson, 405
So. 2d 294 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981) and Cummings v. State, 780 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 2d
DCA 2001), which we acknowledge treated earlier versions of the same statutory
scheme, we hold that the accident privilege in section 316.066(4) does not confer
any benefit or privilege on a person who abandons her duty to remain at the scene
of any automobile accident which results in death, and who chooses instead to
leave the scene of an accident, contrary to section 316.027(1)(b) of the Florida
Statutes (2013).
For this reason, we approve the decision of the trial court which correctly
denied Williams’ dispositive motion to dismiss the statements made by her
concerning the automobile crash in this case after she fled from the scene, and
affirm the conviction and sentence for fleeing the scene of an accident.
Affirmed.
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