Darius Jamine Polite v. State of Florida

Summary

The court held that admission of past-recollection-recorded hearsay under section 90.803(5) requires the witness to attest that the record accurately reflects the witness’s knowledge, in addition to showing that it was made when the matter was fresh. It rejected a totality-of-the-circumstances approach allowing accuracy to be established solely through other evidence, quashed the district court’s decision, and remanded. Justice Canady, dissenting and joined by Chief Justice Polston, would have discharged jurisdiction because the district court’s preservation ruling eliminated any express and direct conflict on the hearsay issue.