Mark Thomas Judkins v. State of Florida
The First DCA reversed convictions for domestic battery by strangulation and false imprisonment after finding that a surreptitious audio recording made inside the defendant's home by a non-party without anyone's consent violated the Florida Security of Communications Act (section 934.03). Following the Florida Supreme Court's holding in McDade v. State and the First DCA's own precedent in Horn v. State, the court held that the recording of oral communications inside a home constituted a protected 'oral communication' under Chapter 934, regardless of the fact that the residence was a single-wide mobile home, and that the erroneous admission was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Key facts
- During a domestic dispute in a single-wide mobile home in November 2022, the defendant's girlfriend's minor daughter (E.K.) secretly audio-recorded a confrontation from her adjacent bedroom on her laptop without the knowledge of either adult.
- The recording captured Judkins making explicit death threats and statements consistent with strangulation; E.K. emailed the file to a family member who forwarded it to law enforcement.
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Holdings
- Under sections 934.02 and 934.03, Florida Statutes, a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in oral communications made inside their home; such communications are 'oral…
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Why it matters
Practitioners handling civil litigation involving audio recordings — particularly insurance investigation recordings, employment-related recordings, or recordings by third parties in domestic or commercial disputes… — full analysis with a trial
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