Harmless Error Doctrine

1,384 Florida cases classified under this topic, plus 1,569 listed through its narrower topics · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Ward v. State
  82 Fla. 383· Fla.· 1921-11-23 ·cited 8×·via Harmless Error Rule
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a conviction for assault and battery, holding that even if technical errors occurred during the trial, the ample evidence of guilt and lack of infringement on fundamental rights warranted upholding the judgment.
• Kirby L. Sandlin v. State
  76 Fla. 368· Fla.· 1918-08-15 ·cited 8×
  Kirby Sandlin was convicted of aggravated assault after being indicted for assault with intent to commit murder. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that alleged procedural errors in jury selection and evidentiary rulings were harmless where the evidence of
• Fiala v. Fiala
  333 So. 3d 215· Fla. 4th DCA· 2022-01-12 ·cited 7×
  The appellate court affirmed the trial court's equitable distribution and denial of alimony, finding that any errors in using the separation date instead of the petition filing date were harmless. The court remanded for an amended judgment to correctly identify the marriage as lo
• Rodriguez v. State
  248 So. 3d 1085· Fla.· 2018-07-12 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Standard
  The Florida Supreme Court clarifies the harmless error standard on appeal, holding that the state must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that an evidentiary error did not affect the jury verdict, rather than merely whether the error resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The C
• Cleto Marcello Cardona v. Casas
  225 So. 3d 384· Fla. 3d DCA· 2017-08-16 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Review
  In this divorce appeal, the former husband challenged ten alleged errors in the trial court's final judgment of dissolution and attorney's fees award. The appellate court affirmed most of the judgment but reversed the portion designating the former wife as beneficiary of a life i
• Jericka v. Jericka
  198 So. 3d 661· Fla. 2d DCA· 2015-12-02 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Review
  A former husband appeals a final judgment awarding permanent periodic alimony to his ex-wife, challenging the trial court's failure to make adequate factual findings supporting the alimony award. The appellate court affirms because the appellant failed to provide a transcript or
• Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Robinson
  168 So. 3d 1279· Fla. 5th DCA· 2015-07-24 ·cited 7×
  The appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a foreclosure action against a borrower. The lender failed to prove it was entitled to enforce a lost note, leading to the dismissal.
• Jackson v. State
  140 So. 3d 1067· Fla. 1st DCA· 2014-06-10 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Rule
  Jackson was convicted of burglary and battery based on his ex-girlfriend's testimony of a March 2011 incident. The appellate court reversed because the trial court erroneously admitted evidence of two prior violent incidents with the same victim to prove Jackson's intent, when in
• T.D.W. v. State
  137 So. 3d 574· Fla. 4th DCA· 2014-04-30 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Review
  A juvenile defendant was convicted of burglary based partly on detective testimony identifying him from a surveillance video camera angle that was not included in the video evidence presented at trial. The court reversed, holding that the detective's testimony violated the best e
• Burns v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't OF Corr., Attorney Gen., State of Fla.
  720 F.3d 1296· 11th Cir.· 2013-07-08 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Review
  Daniel Burns was convicted of first-degree murder and drug trafficking for fatally shooting Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Jeff Young during a struggle after Young discovered crack cocaine in Burns's car. At the capital sentencing proceeding, Burns requested a no-adverse-inferenc
• Golden & Cowan, P.A. v. The Est. OF Hilda Kosofsky
  45 So. 3d 986· Fla. 3d DCA· 2010-10-20 ·cited 7×
  The court held that while the trial court improperly allowed telephonic testimony without proper objection, this error was harmless due to independent evidence supporting the decision.
• Cann v. State
  958 So. 2d 545· Fla. 4th DCA· 2007-06-13 ·cited 7×
  Alonzo Cann was convicted of sexual battery and lewd molestation of a seven-year-old child. On appeal, he challenged the use of closed-circuit television for the child's testimony, the admission of Williams rule evidence regarding prior similar acts against the victim's aunt, and
• Barrio v. James A. Wilson, M.D.
  779 So. 2d 413· Fla. 2d DCA· 2000-09-15 ·cited 7×
  In a medical malpractice case arising from a patient's death, the trial court erroneously admitted testimony from an unqualified pulmonary specialist who lacked the requisite emergency room experience to opine on the standard of care. The appellate court found the error harmless
• United States v. Edwards
  211 F.3d 1355· 11th Cir.· 2000-05-19 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Standard
  Daryl Edwards was convicted of drug conspiracy and distribution and sentenced to life imprisonment. Edwards appealed on two grounds: that his trial violated the Speedy Trial Act by commencing only twenty-nine days after his initial appearance, and that he was denied effective cro
• Pinardi v. State
  718 So. 2d 242· Fla. 5th DCA· 1998-08-21 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Rule
  Michael Pinardi appeals the denial of his postconviction relief motion, challenging whether ex parte communications by his trial judge constitute automatic structural defects requiring a new trial. The Florida appellate court affirms, holding that ex parte communications do not a
• Walker v. State
  701 So. 2d 1258· Fla. 5th DCA· 1997-12-05 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Rule
  Eddie Walker appealed his cocaine trafficking and delivery convictions, arguing that the prosecutor improperly commented on his failure to present evidence in support of his entrapment defense, thereby violating his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. The appellate court affi
• Thomas v. State
  645 So. 2d 185· Fla. 3d DCA· 1994-11-23 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Standard
  Thomas was convicted of burglary and criminal mischief after his wallet was found at the scene of a home break-in. On appeal, he challenged the trial court's comments about fingerprint evidence during voir dire as prejudicial, but the appellate court affirmed his conviction, find
• United States v. Olgivie O'Brien Williams
  985 F.2d 634· 1st Cir.· 1993-02-12 ·cited 7×
• Hunter v. Bernie Aispuro
  982 F.2d 344· 9th Cir.· 1992-12-31 ·cited 7×
  The court held that the California Supreme Court's unexplained denial of the habeas petition did not procedurally bar federal review, but the due process error claimed by the petitioner was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
• United States v. Kerr
  981 F.2d 1050· 9th Cir.· 1992-12-08 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Review
  The court held that prosecutorial misconduct, specifically vouching for witnesses, deprived the defendant of a fair trial and affected the jury's verdict.
• United States v. An Chyi LIU
  960 F.2d 449· 5th Cir.· 1992-04-30 ·cited 7×
  The court held that the district court did not err in excluding testimony regarding the specific reasons for the defendant's fear, nor in refusing to give a jury instruction on duress, and that the defendant was not entrapped or improperly classified as a manager for sentencing p
• Terry v. State
  588 So. 2d 63· Fla. 5th DCA· 1991-10-31 ·cited 7×
  Trial court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw guilty plea, but scoresheet error in multiplying legal constraint points by number of offenses requires vacation of sentence and resentencing.
• Wilhelm v. State
  544 So. 2d 1144· Fla. 2d DCA· 1989-06-14 ·cited 7×
  The court held that the jury instruction creating a mandatory rebuttable presumption of intoxication violated due process, but the error was harmless due to overwhelming evidence of intoxication.
• Solles v. Israel
  868 F.2d 242· 7th Cir.· 1989-02-08 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Standard
  The court held that prosecutorial misconduct, while egregious, did not rise to the level of constitutional error requiring habeas relief, and that defense counsel's performance was effective.
• United States v. Torres-Flores
  827 F.2d 1031· 5th Cir.· 1987-09-10 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Rule
  The court held that the admission of "rogues' gallery" photographs, where the defendant's photo was partially covered but other photos were not, was impermissibly suggestive and deprived the defendant of a fair trial.
• In re River Hills Apts. Fund v. River Hills Apts. Fund
  813 F.2d 702· 5th Cir.· 1987-04-06 ·cited 7×·via Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 61 (Harmless Error)
  The court held that the foreclosure sale was valid because the automatic stay had expired, the debtor was not denied a required hearing, and the sale price was not grossly inadequate under Texas law.
• Gargone v. State
  503 So. 2d 421· Fla. 3d DCA· 1987-03-03 ·cited 7×·via Burden Of Proof For Harmless Error
  Phillip Gargone was convicted of DWI manslaughter and manslaughter by culpable negligence after a fatal car accident. The appellate court reversed his convictions and remanded for a new trial, finding that the blood-alcohol test results were improperly admitted into evidence beca
• Evans v. Britton
  628 F.2d 400· 5th Cir.· 1980-10-15 ·cited 7×·via Chapman V. California Harmless Error Standard
• McDONNELL v. State
  292 So. 2d 420· Fla. 4th DCA· 1974-03-15 ·cited 7×·via Harmless Error Rule
  Lawrence McDonnell was convicted of forgery after the trial court improperly refused to hear his pretrial motion to suppress his confession immediately before trial. The appellate court found the trial court committed error in refusing the motion, but affirmed the conviction unde
• United States v. Moss
  34 F.4th 1176· 11th Cir.· 2022-05-20 ·cited 6×
  Douglas Moss, a physician and medical director at nursing homes, was convicted of conspiracy and healthcare fraud for fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid over $6.7 million for nursing home visits he did not personally perform or that were medically unnecessary, while billi
• Christa Adkins v. Sotolongo
  227 So. 3d 717· Fla. 3d DCA· 2017-09-20 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Standard
  A mother declared indigent in a child custody dispute seeks certiorari review to challenge a trial court order requiring her to advance the court-appointed guardian's deposition fees before being permitted to depose the guardian regarding the reasonableness of the guardian's fees
• Marlena Christine Woods v. State
  214 So. 3d 803· Fla. 1st DCA· 2017-04-24 ·cited 6×
• Juliann Guerrero v. State
  125 So. 3d 811· Fla. 4th DCA· 2013-03-13 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Rule
  A defendant was convicted of trespass after the prosecutor extensively used and highlighted the defendant's alleged use of racial slurs against a law enforcement officer throughout trial, despite the trial court's denial of a motion in limine to exclude such evidence. The appella
• GEICO Gen. Ins. Co. v. Bottini
  93 So. 3d 476· Fla. 2d DCA· 2012-07-20 ·cited 6×
• Leonel Munoz v. State
  45 So. 3d 954· Fla. 3d DCA· 2010-10-13 ·cited 6×
  Leonel Munoz appeals his manslaughter conviction for shooting Paul Suarez, claiming self-defense. The appellate court affirms, holding that while evidence of a victim's reputation for carrying firearms may be relevant to show the reasonableness of a defendant's fear in self-defen
• Hannah v. State
  42 So. 3d 951· Fla. 4th DCA· 2010-09-01 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Rule
  Dennis Hannah was convicted of burglary of a conveyance and grand theft after evidence showed he entered an S&S Janitorial Services trailer and removed equipment. The Fourth District reversed his convictions on two independent grounds: the trial court erroneously refused to instr
• Hoag v. State
  12 So. 3d 907· Fla. 2d DCA· 2009-07-08 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Standard
  James Hoag challenged his 1994 sentencing guidelines scoresheet, alleging it contained errors that resulted in an illegal sentence. The court found that his additional offense of attempted second-degree murder was incorrectly scored as level 9 instead of level 8, resulting in a s
• Dombrowski v. Mingo
  543 F.3d 1270· 11th Cir.· 2008-10-03 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Analysis In Sentencing
  Paul Dombrowski sought federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging a Florida sentencing court's failure to advise him of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before soliciting his admission to prior convictions for habitual offender enhancement. The
• Concha v. State
  972 So. 2d 996· Fla. 4th DCA· 2008-01-02 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Review
  A prosecutor's questioning that is fairly susceptible of being interpreted as a comment on a defendant's right to remain silent is improper, even if the defendant refused pre-arrest tests.
• Pernele Kiser v. State
  921 So. 2d 28· Fla. 1st DCA· 2006-01-24 ·cited 6×
  Pernele Kiser appeals his conviction for carjacking and battery on an elderly person, challenging the State's failure to disclose an oral statement he allegedly made to a detective. The court affirms the conviction, finding that although the State committed a discovery violation,
• Deville v. State
  917 So. 2d 1058· Fla. 4th DCA· 2006-01-18 ·cited 6×
  Clifford Deville was convicted of dealing in stolen property and falsely verifying ownership to a pawnbroker. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed because the trial court abused its discretion by admitting testimony about a lock pick set found on Deville two months after
• Ames v. Dist. Bd. of Trs.
  908 So. 2d 1142· Fla. 1st DCA· 2005-08-11 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Rule
  The court held that while the Board's finding of resignation lacked support, its alternative finding of appropriate termination due to incapacity was supported by evidence and any procedural errors were harmless.
• Phillip Morris, Inc. v. Suzette Ahrendt Janoff
  901 So. 2d 141· Fla. 3d DCA· 2004-10-27 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Rule
  Plaintiff Suzette Janoff brought a products liability action against Philip Morris alleging that environmental tobacco smoke exposure caused her respiratory ailments while working as a flight attendant. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants, but the trial court granted a
• Griffis v. State
  848 So. 2d 422· Fla. 1st DCA· 2003-07-02 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Review
  Brian Michael Griffis was convicted of child abuse in the death of his 4-month-old daughter. The appellate court reversed his conviction, finding the jury instruction on child abuse contained fundamental error by including elements from the wrong statute (culpable negligence and
• Suda v. State
  838 So. 2d 665· Fla. 1st DCA· 2003-03-04 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Standard
  Florida appellate court reversed a trafficking conviction because the trial court abused its discretion in finding harmless a discovery violation involving an undisclosed State witness, applying the extraordinarily high standard that requires showing no reasonable possibility the
• Allen v. State
  789 So. 2d 1154· Fla. 3d DCA· 2001-07-05 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Standard
  Allen was convicted of armed kidnapping, robbery, and carjacking. The appellate court affirmed, holding that a physical description of crime perpetrators given by a witness constitutes a non-hearsay statement of identification under Florida Evidence Code § 90.801(2)(c), and any e
• Logan Wallace v. State
  768 So. 2d 1247· Fla. 1st DCA· 2000-10-17 ·cited 6×·via Harmless Error Standard
  Logan Wallace appeals his second-degree murder conviction, arguing the prosecutor's repeated and deliberate references to the victim of the defendant's alleged vulgar comments as a "white woman" constituted improper appeals to racial prejudice that denied him a fair trial. The co
• Crawford & Co. v. Baxla
  746 So. 2d 576· Fla. 1st DCA· 1999-12-21 ·cited 6×
  Crawford & Company and Fleetwood Homes of America appealed a workers' compensation award of temporary total and permanent total benefits to Tanya Baxla. The appellate court affirmed the award despite finding that the JCC erroneously admitted testimony from a non-authorized physic
• Sheffield v. Superior Ins. Co.
  741 So. 2d 533· Fla. 1st DCA· 1999-06-30 ·cited 6×
  A plaintiff injured in a rear-end collision sought a new trial on damages from her uninsured motorist insurer, arguing medical evidence required a directed verdict that her injuries were permanent. The appellate court rejected the directed verdict claim because conflicting medica
• Kloster Cruise, Ltd. v. Rentz
  733 So. 2d 1102· Fla. 3d DCA· 1999-05-19 ·cited 6×
  Norwegian Cruise Line appealed a trial court's decision to allow an expert to present weather data from the National Climatic Data Center as the basis for his opinion. The appellate court affirmed, holding that the trial court acted within its discretion in admitting the data and