Harmless Error Analysis

4,402 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count

• O'Brien v. State
  56 So. 3d 884· Fla. 1st DCA· 2011-03-16 ·cited 4×
  Kenneth James O'Brien appeals his convictions for sexual battery on a child, challenging the admission of his confession obtained after he invoked his right to counsel. The First District Court of Appeal reversed his convictions, finding that law enforcement violated the Edwards
• Burns v. State
  50 So. 3d 744· Fla. 2d DCA· 2010-12-22 ·cited 4×
  A trial court must hold a hearing to determine if an adversarial relationship exists between a defendant and counsel when the defendant files a pro se motion alleging counsel's misadvice led to an unknowing or involuntary plea.
• Sherwood Joseph v. State
  42 So. 3d 323· Fla. 4th DCA· 2010-08-11 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court's error in giving standard jury instructions on manslaughter was harmless because the defendant's conviction was for crimes two degrees removed from manslaughter and supported by an admissible confession.
• Downs v. State
  40 So. 3d 49· Fla. 5th DCA· 2010-07-02 ·cited 4×
  William Downs was convicted of capital sexual battery on a child under twelve and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed his conviction because the trial court erred in admitting evidence of uncharged shower incidents without the statu
• Mynor Solano v. State
  35 So. 3d 930· Fla. 3d DCA· 2010-04-07 ·cited 4×
  Mynor Solano appeals his second-degree murder conviction for killing his former romantic partner, arguing evidentiary error in admitting a cauldron (allegedly related to his Santería religious practice) and fundamental error in jury instructions on manslaughter. The court found t
• Rene Stone Work Corp. & Fla. Citrus Bus. & Indus. & Usis v. Gonzalez
  25 So. 3d 1272· Fla. 1st DCA· 2010-01-25 ·cited 4×
  In this workers' compensation appeal, the court addressed whether an undocumented worker's wages could be counted for benefits when he did not report them through traditional employer channels but later filed a tax return. The court held that the claimant's average weekly wage wa
• Wright v. State
  994 So. 2d 447· Fla. 3d DCA· 2008-10-29 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court erred by failing to conduct a proper Richardson inquiry before excluding an unlisted defense witness, and this error was not harmless.
• Palmer v. State
  978 So. 2d 282· Fla. 4th DCA· 2008-04-16 ·cited 4×
  Antonio Palmer was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree in a shooting case. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed his conviction due to the trial court's erroneous exclusion of evidence regarding the victim's reputation for truthfulness, which was critical to
• D.B. v. State
  979 So. 2d 1119· Fla. 3d DCA· 2008-04-09 ·cited 4×
  A juvenile defendant appeals from an order withholding adjudication of delinquency, arguing the trial court violated Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.110(d) by allowing the State to present both the first and final closing arguments. The court held that a juvenile who present
• Hines v. State
  982 So. 2d 22· Fla. 1st DCA· 2008-03-31 ·cited 4×
  Frederick Hines was convicted of armed robbery and felon in possession of a firearm. The appellate court reversed because the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of a firearm found on March 21—a date for which Hines had been acquitted of possession charges in
• Cutts v. State
  976 So. 2d 579· Fla.· 2008-02-21 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the record lacked sufficient information for a harmless error analysis, requiring remand.
• Barnes v. State
  993 So. 2d 1012· Fla. 2d DCA· 2008-01-16 ·cited 4×
  James Barnes petitioned for postconviction relief arguing that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise that the trial court committed fundamental error by inserting the conjunction 'or' between his name and his codefendant's name in jury instructions on attempt
• H.T. v. State
  967 So. 2d 374· Fla. 3d DCA· 2007-10-17 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court erred by failing to conduct a Richardson hearing when a discovery violation was alleged, and this error was not harmless.
• Kemar Wolliston v. State
  961 So. 2d 1141· Fla. 4th DCA· 2007-08-15 ·cited 4×
  Kemar Wolliston was convicted of trafficking in cocaine after police questioned him in his home about cocaine found during a search. Although the court found a Miranda violation occurred when officers questioned him without reading his rights after confronting him with evidence,
• Perez v. State
  949 So. 2d 363· Fla. 2d DCA· 2007-03-02 ·cited 4×
  Victor Perez was convicted of robbery with a weapon based solely on the victim's eyewitness identification. The appellate court reversed because the trial court improperly restricted cross-examination of the victim regarding inconsistent statements she made at the suppression hea
• In re Jane DOE 06-C
  948 So. 2d 30· Fla. 1st DCA· 2006-12-12 ·cited 4×
  This case involves a dissenting opinion arguing that a trial court did not improperly dismiss an attorney, but rather the attorney voluntarily withdrew after the court inquired about their dual role as an Assistant Public Defender and a volunteer cooperating attorney with the ACL
• Stefan A. Armstrong v. State
  931 So. 2d 187· Fla. 5th DCA· 2006-06-09 ·cited 4×
  Armstrong was convicted of robbery and sentenced as a habitual offender to 30 years imprisonment. The Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction, finding that the trial court committed reversible error by admitting Armstrong's statement to law enforcement made during
• Bell v. State
  930 So. 2d 779· Fla. 4th DCA· 2006-05-24 ·cited 4×
  James Bell was convicted of sexual battery on a child, indecent assault, and inducing a sexual performance by a child. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed for a new trial, finding prejudicial error in the State's failure to timely disclose that the child victim intended
• Jackson v. State
  933 So. 2d 1180· Fla. 4th DCA· 2006-05-17 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the prosecutor impermissibly shifted the burden of proof to the defendant by cross-examining him about his failure to raise a defense prior to trial and by commenting on this failure during closing arguments.
• Cuervo v. State
  929 So. 2d 640· Fla. 5th DCA· 2006-05-12 ·cited 4×
  Juan Raul Cuervo appeals his conviction for attempted first-degree murder and burglary, arguing his confession was involuntarily obtained in violation of Miranda rights. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirms, holding that Cuervo's initial statements declining to spea
• Hill v. State
  927 So. 2d 1047· Fla. 2d DCA· 2006-05-10 ·cited 4×
  Nicholas Shawn Hill appealed the revocation of his probation for two counts of lewd battery. The court affirmed the probation revocation but reversed his sentence, finding that the trial court erroneously believed it could not consider youthful offender sentencing upon probation
• Ferguson v. State
  920 So. 2d 838· Fla. 4th DCA· 2006-02-22 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court did not err in admitting testimony regarding a male companion's statement as an adopted admission and that any error was harmless.
• Carrada v. State
  919 So. 2d 592· Fla. 3d DCA· 2006-01-18 ·cited 4×
  Carrada was convicted of leaving the scene of a crash with personal injury. The court reversed for a new trial, finding that the prosecutor improperly called defendant's cousin as a witness solely to impeach him with a prior statement containing devastating hearsay, and then comp
• Giles v. State
  916 So. 2d 55· Fla. 2d DCA· 2005-12-14 ·cited 4×
  Joseph Giles was convicted of dealing in stolen property after a jury trial. On appeal, the court reversed and remanded for a new trial because the trial court failed to conduct an adequate inquiry into whether the State violated its discovery obligations by failing to disclose i
• Still v. State
  917 So. 2d 250· Fla. 3d DCA· 2005-12-14 ·cited 4×
  Corey Jermaine Still appealed his conviction and sentence, raising four issues, two of which the court addressed: whether the trial court abused its discretion in striking a prospective juror for cause, and whether a Frye hearing was required for OnStar GPS evidence. The Florida
• Kirby Cameron Perritte v. State
  912 So. 2d 332· Fla. 5th DCA· 2005-09-02 ·cited 4×
  Kirby Cameron Perritte appeals his conviction for capital sexual battery of a child under 12, challenging the jury's failure to make a specific finding that he was over 18 at the time of the offense. The Fifth District affirms, holding that Apprendi v. New Jersey does not require
• Stuckey v. State
  907 So. 2d 1208· Fla. 5th DCA· 2005-06-17 ·cited 4×
  Stuckey was convicted of robbery for taking DVDs from Sam's Club while resisting employees' efforts to stop him. The court reversed, holding that he was entitled to a jury instruction on the lesser included offense of resisting a merchant, despite the State's charging document fa
• United States v. Matthews
  411 F.3d 1210· 11th Cir.· 2005-06-08 ·cited 4×
  Terrance Matthews was convicted of conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and two counts of obstruction of justice by intimidation of a witness. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit addressed four issues: whether wiretap recordings were properly sealed under 18 U.S
• J.C.M. v. State
  891 So. 2d 573· Fla. 1st DCA· 2004-12-10 ·cited 4×
  A 12-year-old child was charged with vandalism after police obtained incriminating statements without providing Miranda warnings. The appellate court reversed the adjudication, holding that the child was in police custody when questioned and that the admission of the unwarned sta
• Smith v. State
  888 So. 2d 112· Fla. 3d DCA· 2004-11-24 ·cited 4×
  Daniel Smith was convicted of two counts of grand theft based partly on evidence that he violated his employer's conflict of interest policy. The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that an employer's policy manual is inadmissible in criminal cases to establish gui
• Shimko v. State
  883 So. 2d 341· Fla. 4th DCA· 2004-09-22 ·cited 4×
  Dennis Shimko appealed his conviction for indecent assault of his two step-granddaughters. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction because the trial court erroneously allowed the prosecution to insinuate an unproven fact (that the school board had no r
• R.T. Bevil v. State
  875 So. 2d 1265· Fla. 1st DCA· 2004-06-10 ·cited 4×
  In this direct criminal appeal, the Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed R.T. Bevil's convictions for sexual battery and trespass because the trial court erroneously admitted DNA population frequency statistics derived from the FDLE database without the state establish
• Sims v. State
  867 So. 2d 1208· Fla. 3d DCA· 2004-03-10 ·cited 4×
  The trial court erred in denying the defense's request for a writ of bodily attachment to secure the presence of a properly subpoenaed witness.
• Williams v. State
  865 So. 2d 637· Fla. 3d DCA· 2004-02-11 ·cited 4×
• Brown v. Crosby
  249 F. Supp. 2d 1285· S.D. Fla.· 2003-03-19 ·cited 4×
  The Court found that the Petitioner's waiver of his Miranda rights was not knowing and intelligent due to his severe intellectual deficits, and therefore his confession should have been suppressed.
• Roberts v. State
  841 So. 2d 558· Fla. 4th DCA· 2003-03-12 ·cited 4×
  Lee Roberts was convicted of robbery and false imprisonment based in part on DNA evidence. The appellate court reversed and remanded because the trial court erred in denying Roberts's request for a Frye hearing to determine whether the statistical calculation technique used to de
• State v. Cameron
  837 So. 2d 1111· Fla. 4th DCA· 2003-02-19 ·cited 4×
  The State appeals a trial court's order granting William Cameron a new trial after he was convicted of DUI-Manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide, and DUI-Property Damage. The appellate court reverses, holding that Cameron failed to preserve his objection to a jury instruction on presu
• Carlisi v. State
  831 So. 2d 813· Fla. 4th DCA· 2002-12-11 ·cited 4×
  A trial court errs by allowing a suppressed statement to be used for impeachment without first allowing the defendant to testify on the statement's voluntariness.
• Flores v. Allstate Ins. Co.
  833 So. 2d 172· Fla. 2d DCA· 2002-11-20 ·cited 4×
  The introduction of evidence highlighting the insured's alleged fraud in submitting personal injury protection claims, in the context of an entire claim of fraud that the jury should not have considered when deciding the uninsured motorist claim, requires a new trial.
• Searles v. State
  816 So. 2d 793· Fla. 2d DCA· 2002-05-15 ·cited 4×
  Adam Frank Searles appeals his convictions for DUI manslaughter and related offenses following a jury trial in 2000, after this court had previously reversed his original convictions in 1999 and ordered a new trial. The court affirms the convictions, finding any trial errors to b
• Erroll Gary v. State
  806 So. 2d 582· Fla. 4th DCA· 2002-01-30 ·cited 4×
  Erroll Gary was convicted of cocaine delivery and sentenced to thirty years as a habitual felony offender. The Fourth District reversed and remanded because the trial court failed to give a jury instruction on guilty knowledge, an essential element of the delivery crime, which co
• Corn v. State
  796 So. 2d 641· Fla. 1st DCA· 2001-10-12 ·cited 4×
  Michael Wayne Corn appeals his first-degree premeditated murder conviction on grounds of insufficient evidence of premeditation and admission of inadmissible hearsay testimony. The court affirmed on the sufficiency of evidence but reversed and remanded for a new trial based on th
• Farrell v. State
  791 So. 2d 598· Fla. 3d DCA· 2001-08-29 ·cited 4×
  The court affirmed a conviction for lewd, lascivious, and indecent assault upon a child, holding that the appellant's intent could be imputed from the circumstances and that a prosecutor's comments during closing argument, though objected to and sustained with a curative instruct
• Adolphus Merricks v. State
  793 So. 2d 119· Fla. 2d DCA· 2001-08-17 ·cited 4×
  Adolphus Merricks appeals his conviction for sexual battery and attempted sexual battery, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial based on an improper off-the-record communication between a bailiff and the jury. The court reverses because the bailiff
• Fisher v. Fisher
  787 So. 2d 926· Fla. 2d DCA· 2001-05-18 ·cited 4×
  In a family law dissolution case, the trial court denied the husband's timely motion to conform the final judgment to the oral settlement agreement, found him in contempt for non-compliance, and awarded attorney's fees to the wife. The appellate court reversed all aspects of the
• Sotolongo v. State
  787 So. 2d 915· Fla. 3d DCA· 2001-05-09 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to suppress statements, motions for mistrial, or in admitting crime scene photos.
• Mounds v. State
  778 So. 2d 514· Fla. 4th DCA· 2001-02-28 ·cited 4×
  Alvin Mounds was convicted of trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine with drug paraphernalia. The court reversed his possession convictions for insufficient evidence of constructive possession and reversed his trafficking conviction due to admission of highly prejudicia
• Jemmott v. State
  779 So. 2d 472· Fla. 2d DCA· 2000-11-03 ·cited 4×
  Edwin Jemmott appeals his conviction for aggravated battery and 117-month sentence, challenging the trial court's denial of a jury instruction on justifiable use of nondeadly force for the lesser included battery charge. Although the court found the denial to be error, it affirme
• Jorlett v. State
  766 So. 2d 1226· Fla. 5th DCA· 2000-09-22 ·cited 4×
  Raymond Jorlett appeals his DUI conviction, raising four points of error. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal finds merit in one claim—that the prosecutor improperly vouched for police officer credibility during closing argument—and reverses and remands for retrial because
• Bouey v. State
  762 So. 2d 537· Fla. 5th DCA· 2000-06-02 ·cited 4×
  Dwight Bouey appeals his cocaine trafficking and possession convictions. The court reverses his habitual offender sentence as illegal under the Criminal Punishment Code and remands for a factual determination regarding whether an alternate juror improperly sat with the jury durin