Fonte v. State
The Third DCA affirmed a second-degree murder conviction, rejecting Fonte's Confrontation Clause challenge to the chief medical examiner's testimony about a toxicology report prepared by a non-testifying analyst. Applying the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Smith v. Arizona (2024), the court held the toxicology report was not testimonial because it was generated as part of the medical examiner's standard autopsy protocol pursuant to her statutory duty, and its primary purpose was not to advance Fonte's prosecution.
Key facts
- Fonte was convicted of second-degree murder in the trial court based partly on testimony from the chief medical examiner regarding a toxicology report prepared by a non-testifying analyst.
- Fonte challenged the admission of the toxicology report on Confrontation Clause grounds, arguing he had no opportunity to cross-examine the analyst who prepared it.
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Why it matters
This opinion is one of the first Florida appellate applications of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Smith v. Arizona to autopsy and toxicology evidence, giving practitioners a framework for arguing whether… — full analysis with a trial
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