ALEX JONES
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Prosecutor's comments suggesting the jury consider whether the victim deserved or needed to die were clearly improper, but the error did not constitute fundamental error requiring reversal.
[1] A prosecutor's comments suggesting that a jury should consider whether a victim deserved or needed to die are clearly improper when discussing a defendant's self-defense…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“reach[ed] down into the validity of the trial itself to the extent that a verdict of guilty could not have been obtained without the alleged error”
Standard for fundamental error in Florida appellate review
Alex Jones was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm. The prosecutor made improper comments during opening statement and closing argument r…
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IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FIFTH DISTRICT
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED
ALEX JONES,
Appellant,
v. Case No. 5D19-2771
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
________________________________/
Opinion filed December 31, 2020
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Elaine A. Barbour, Judge.
James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Steven
N.
Gosney, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and L. Charlene Matthews, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
EVANDER, C.J.
Alex Jones appeals the judgment and sentence entered after he was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm. He argues that certain comments made by the prosecutor during opening statement and closing argument constituted fundamental error. We agree that, in discussing Jones’ self-defense claim, it was clearly improper for
2 the prosecutor to suggest to the jury that it should consider whether the victim “deserved to die” or “needed to die.” However, after considering the totality of the record, we cannot conclude that the improper comments “reach[ed] down into the validity of the trial itself to the extent that a verdict of guilty could not have been obtained without the alleged error.” Johnson v. State, 238 So. 3d 726, 740 (Fla. 2018) (quoting Kilgore v. State, 688 So. 2d 895, 898 (Fla. 1996)).
AFFIRMED.
HARRIS and SASSO, JJ., concur.