Robinson v. State
Robinson v. State
Opinion of the Court
Matthew David Robinson appeals the trial court’s order summarily denying his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. In the motion, Mr. Robinson claims that the State committed a Giglio
To establish a Giglio violation, a defendant must show that: (1) a witness presented false testimony; (2) the prosecutor knew the testimony was false; and (3) the statement was material. See Robinson v. State, 707 So.2d 688, 693 (Fla. 1998) (citing Craig v. State, 685 So.2d 1224, 1226 (Fla. 1996)). Although such a claim is occasionally made on direct appeal,
The case arises from an incident that occurred when a police officer went to Mr. Robinson’s apartment building to handle a complaint about excessive noise. When the officer was at the door of the noisy apartment, Mr. Robinson came down the hallway carrying a shoebox. During a consensual encounter with Mr. Robinson, the officer claimed that he shined his flashlight through a small hole in the box and saw plastic baggies containing a white powder. Based on these findings of fact, the trial court denied a motion to suppress, concluding that the officer obtained evidence of the drugs under the “plain view” doctrine. This court affirmed without opinion because the dispositive motion to suppress was properly denied in light of the trial court’s determination of the facts.
Although Mr. Robinson describes his claim as a Giglio violation and uses all of the language necessary to describe such a claim, his factual allegations are not actually allegations of such a violation. Instead, Mr. Robinson believes the officer could not shine his flashlight at the shoe
This claim is simply not a Giglio claim. Moreover, Mr. Robinson’s legal theory is incorrect. Contraband can be discovered in “plain view” during a consensual encounter even if an officer believes that contraband might be located in an area where the officer is entitled to be and the officer is on heightened vigilance to see the contraband. See, e.g., Roberts v. State, 566 So.2d 848, 850 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (noting that during a consensual encounter, “the use of a flashlight to illuminate the interior of a vehicle does not violate Fourth Amendment rights, even though an officer may specifically be looking at an area of suspicious activity”). Law enforcement officers often augment plain view with a flashlight. See, e.g., State v. Goodwin, 36 So.3d 925, 927 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010); State v. Elbertson, 340 So.2d 1250, 1251 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976).
Accordingly, because Mr. Robinson’s theory was not a viable legal theory on which he could obtain postconviction relief and the trial court had already given him an opportunity to amend the motion, the trial court did not err in denying the motion without further leave to amend.
Affirmed.
. Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972).
. See, e.g., Mackey v. State, 55 So.3d 606 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (remanding on direct appeal for consideration of a motion for new trial raising a Giglio issue).
.See, e.g., Rodriguez v. State, 39 So.3d 275 (Fla. 2010); Davis v. State, 31 So.3d 277 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.