State of Florida v. Michelle Bowers

Summary

The Florida Supreme Court held that the fellow officer rule does not permit an officer who lacked firsthand knowledge of a traffic stop to testify about what the stopping officer told him for the purpose of establishing probable cause, thereby overturning the Fourth District’s decision in Ferrer. The Court approved the Second District’s ruling in Bowers and reversed the circuit court’s judgment. Justice Lewis dissented, arguing the majority’s approach threatens judicial hierarchy and ignores a jurisdictional defect.