State v. Bowers (Florida Supreme Court, Feb. 23rd 2012).

The Florida Supreme Court reviewed a case where the Second District Court of Appeal and the Fourth District Court of Appeal disagreed. The conflict between these two districts involves the application of the fellow officer rule to testimony in a motion to suppress hearing where the defendant is challenging the validity of a traffic stop.

The Supreme Court held that the fellow officer rule does not allow an officer who does not have firsthand knowledge of the traffic stop and was not involved in the investigation at that time to testify as to hearsay regarding what the initial officer who conducted the stop told him or her for the purpose of proving a violation of the traffic law so as to establish the validity of the initial stop.

This decision is important because this decision says the Fourth District Court of Appeals was wrong and this is the Appeals Court for Palm Beach County.