{"id":366,"date":"2018-04-13T09:55:25","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T13:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clearwatercriminallawyer.net\/?p=366"},"modified":"2026-01-31T09:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T14:02:42","slug":"confidential-informant-tape-leads-to-florida-burglary-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.criminalattorneyclearwater.net\/blog\/confidential-informant-tape-leads-to-florida-burglary-conviction\/","title":{"rendered":"Confidential Informant Tape Leads to Florida Burglary Conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Confidential informant evidence can make or break a criminal case in Florida. This evidence often includes secretly taped conversations between an informant and a person charged with a crime. Although there are a number of safeguards and defenses available to a person who is caught on tape talking about a potential crime, a recent case<\/a> out of Florida\u2019s Fourth District Court of Appeal shows that such evidence may very well be admissible in court.A defendant was charged with a number of criminal offenses related to an armed burglary in a recreational vehicle park. Prosecutors alleged that the defendant and another man tried to rob a couple (Husband and Wife) for whom the defendant worked. The wife told the cops that two men \u2013 one of whom she recognized as the defendant \u2013 accosted her outside the couple\u2019s RV. She said the other man hit her multiple times with a gun and demanded that she tell him where the couple kept their jewelry. The other man caught her and forced her to lie on the ground when the woman attempted to run away. Meanwhile, the defendant went back to the couple\u2019s home, where a fight ensued with the husband. At some point, the husband chased the defendant back to the community entrance, where both of them fled the scene without any of the couple\u2019s jewelry.<\/p>\n

Police apprehended the defendant later the same day. He told the cops that the defendant and he had planned to go to the RV park to steal the victim\u2019s Segway. He claimed he didn\u2019t know that the other man had a gun until he took out the weapon and told the defendant they were going to take the jewelry. A police informant who first met the two men in jail approached the cops with information about the crime and later agreed to tape a conversation with the defendant. That conversation \u2013 which took place while both men were in a car, using drugs – was later played for the jury. In it, the defendant described participating in the burglary, according to the court. He was convicted, classified as a habitual offender, and sentenced to life in prison.<\/p>\n

Affirming the decision on appeal, the Fourth District said the trial court properly allowed the defendant’s taped conversation with the confidential informant to be introduced as evidence. The court rejected his claim that the use of the tape violated his constitutional right to an attorney because the cops didn\u2019t tell him that he had the right to a lawyer before the informant taped the conversation. Although statements made to an informant in jail may be covered by the right to counsel, the court noted that the defendant \u201cwas not in custody nor had he even been arrested for the charges when he confessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Confidential informant evidence can make or break a criminal case in Florida. This evidence often includes secretly taped conversations between an informant and a person charged with a crime. Although there are a number of safeguards and defenses available to a person who is caught on tape talking about a potential crime, a recent case […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-armed-burglary"],"yoast_head":"\nBurglary Case: Confidential Informant Evidence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Accused of theft charges? See how this ruling on confidential informant tape leads may help or hurt your defense in Pinellas County. 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