State v. Russell

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Seminole County, Kenneth R. Lester, Jr., Judge. The state appeals from the trial court's order which granted Russell's motion to suppress ""evidence of the statements"" (presumably both his former stepdaughter's recollection of the interview between them and the tape recording of their conversation) he made to his former stepdaughter, V.H., when she came to visit him in prison on April 5, 2000. The defense cross-appeals the trial court's order which refused to suppress statements Russell made to police at the prison on April 28, 2000, after being confronted with the tape recording and after having been given Miranda warnings. 1 We reverse the first ruling which precludes admission of the taped conversation and testimony concerning it. Because the basis of the cross-appeal is that the second confession was the ""fruit of the poisonous tree,"" pursuant to Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963), we do not reach that issue and affirm the second ruling.