STATE OF FLORIDA EX REL. CLAYTON ALVIN HAMM, RELATOR,
v.
HAROLD S. SMITH, AS JUDGE OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 12TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 2d DCA | 1968-05-01
No. 68-41
ALLEN, Acting C. J., and HOBSON, J., concur.
209 So. 2d 876 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1968) Negative Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Synopsis

In this original prohibition proceeding, the Florida District Court of Appeal reviews a trial judge's decision to grant a mistrial in a first-degree murder case. The court finds the mistrial was improper because the trial was advanced and a curative instruction could have remedied the inadmissible testimony.


Holding

The court held that the mistrial was improper and issued a Rule Absolute in prohibition. The inadmissible statement, while not proper, was not of such nature as to be reasonably immune to a curative instruction, and there was no manifest urgency or necessity to discharge the jury given the advanced state of trial.


Key Quotes

“As we concluded in the Hand case, there was no manifest urgency or necessity to discharge the jury here. The jury had already been sworn, and the trial was running well into its second day, the State had rested and the defense was apparently beginning to conclude.”

Establishes the court's standard for when a mistrial is appropriate—requiring manifest urgency or necessity, which was absent here.

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Facts & Procedural History

Clayton Alvin Hamm was indicted for the first-degree murder of Charles Randolph Hamm. Trial began on November 6, 1967, with the State resting after th…

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Opinion of the Court
PIERCE, Judge.

PIERCE, Judge.

This is an original proceeding in prohibition filed in this Court by relator Clayton Alvin Hamm, and is now pending upon application of relator for issuance of Rule Absolute. The facts of the instant case bring it within the direct purview of our opinion and decision announced this same day in the case of State of Florida ex rel. Hand v. Lane, 209 So.2d 873. Upon the authority of the Hand opinion and the numerous cases therein cited, the Rule Absolute must be issued in the case sub judice.

*877This prohibition proceeding derives from the following facts occurring in the trial Court: On December 20, 1966, indictment was returned into the Collier County Circuit Court charging Clayton Alvin Hamm with the first degree murder of Charles Randolph Hamm. On November 6, 1967, trial began. After considerable interrogation, a jury was selected, empanelled and sworn. Testimony began, and on the same day three witnesses testified on behalf of the State, whereupon the State rested. One witness testified on behalf of the defendant before the trial was recessed for the night. On the following day six defense witnesses testified in full and the defendant thereupon placed on the witness stand one Dr. John Fabian Franklin, who had been a clinical psychologist and director of the juvenile court clinic in Detroit, Michigan, for twelve years but who, since February, 1958, had lived and practiced in Naples, Florida, serving for five years as school psychologist and also privately as clinical psychologist but who for the immediate past two years had been doing clinical psychology for the local health department. It was indicated he was to testify only as a character witness, attesting to the good reputation of defendant Clayton Alvin Hamm, and to the bad reputation of the victim, Charles Randolph Hamm. At this point we quote from the record:

“Q (by defense attorney Vega) Have you had the opportunity to meet professionally Charles Randolph Hamm?
A He was referred to me in March of 1961, after he had stolen a car and wrecked it—
THE COURT: (Gavel) That’s enough.
MR. SCHAUB: (State attorney) I ask for a mistrial, Your Honor.
THE COURT: I will grant it.
And thereupon a mistrial was granted by the Court and the Court having expressed its thanks to the members of the jury for their participation in the trial of this matter, court was thereupon adjourned.”

As we concluded in the Hand case, there was no manifest urgency or necessity to discharge the jury here. The jury had already been sworn, and the trial was running well into its second day, the State had rested and the defense was apparently beginning to conclude. The witness was only a minor character witness. His gratuitous statement that the victim of the homicide, Charles Randolph Hamm, “had stolen a car and wrecked it — ”, was, of course, not proper, but was not such as to be reasonably immune to a cautionary instruction by the Court to the jury. Especially is this true in view of the previous testimony showing commission by the same individual of numerous offenses, some far more serious, and even Court convictions.

It is unnecessary to further prolong this opinion. The Rule Absolute in Prohibition will be issued upon authority of the Hand case, supra.

ALLEN, Acting C. J., and HOBSON, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Smith, 239 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970)
    …nd is familiar with the circumstances, tensions and conditions which may be present in the courtroom. Adkins v. Smith, 205 So. 2d 530 (Fla.1967). See also Smith v. State ex rel. Hamm, 225 So. 2d 417 (Fla.1969), reversing State ex rel. Hamm v. Smith, 209 So. 2d 876 (Fla.App.1968), upon which relator relies. The suggestion for prohibition is denied. JOHNSON, C. J., and RAWLS and SPECTOR, JJ., concur.…
  • Warren v. State, 221 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)
    …2. [*426] And in any event the denial of a motion for mistrial is always largely in the discretion of the trial Judge. Prokos v. State, Fla.App.1968, 209 So. 2d 484, and cases therein cited. In the case of State ex rel. Hamm v. Smith, Fla.App.1968, 209 So. 2d 876, also by this Court, the State had put on its testimony and rested, the defendant had put on in his behalf, six witnesses and finally a Dr. Franklin, a practitioner in clinical psychology who was to testify only as a character witness, attesting to…
  • …e of murder by appellee on the theory of former jeopardy after a mistrial had been declared by the trial court. The factual background, circumstances and ruling are reported in the decision of the District Court in State ex rel. Hamm v. Smith, etc., 209 So. 2d 876, and it would be useless to repeat them here. In so holding, the District Court failed to follow the decision of this court in Adkins v. Smith, 205 So. 2d 530, which is controlling in the case sub judice. Accordingly, the decision under review is r…

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