Rico Johnson, Petitioner v. State of Florida, Respondent.

Summary

The Florida Supreme Court held that a lay witness may acquire the requisite prior special familiarity with a defendant's voice at any time before trial, including during an ongoing investigation, and therefore affirmed the Fifth District Court of Appeal's admission of such identification testimony. The Court receded from its prior decision in Evans, overruling the rule that familiarity must be established before the investigation began.