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
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The court held that the prosecutor's actions, including calling a witness who invoked the Fifth Amendment and commenting on that invocation in closing arguments, denied the petitioner a fair trial.
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245 So. 2d 644·
Fla. 1st DCA·
1971-03-18
·cited 2×
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437 F.2d 921·
8th Cir.·
1971-02-16
·cited 2×
The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a continuance and that any error in admitting evidence of car keys was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
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437 F.2d 791·
9th Cir.·
1971-01-28
·cited 2×
The court held that while admitting a reference to a suppressed statement was error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and the evidence was sufficient to allow Pedro's case to go to the jury.
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435 F.2d 700·
3d Cir.·
1970-11-06
·cited 2×
The court held that the District Court did not err in denying the petition for habeas corpus relief, affirming the lower court's findings on all grounds.
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An erroneous jury instruction, particularly when given as the final word to a deliberating jury and in response to specific questions, is not cured by prior correct instructions and can constitute reversible error.
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The court held that the petitioner had not exhausted his state remedies because the specific procedural issue regarding Jackson v. Denno was not raised in prior state court proceedings.
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The court held that the exclusion of the doctor's testimony was harmless error because substantially similar testimony was admitted.
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421 F.2d 59·
9th Cir.·
1969-12-23
·cited 2×
The court held that even if the lineup identification was unduly suggestive, it constituted harmless error due to overwhelming independent evidence of guilt.
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416 F.2d 432·
6th Cir.·
1969-10-09
·cited 2×
The court held that the state trial court's refusal to allow defense counsel to inspect notes used by a witness to refresh his memory, while error, did not rise to the level of a federal constitutional violation requiring habeas corpus relief.
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The court held that the jury charge, including a parenthetical judicial remark, was not reversible error, either individually or cumulatively.
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The court held that while testimony regarding the defendant's knowledge of the illegality of her actions was irrelevant to the charges and the entrapment defense, its admission was not prejudicial error requiring reversal because the evidence of guilt was strong and no objection
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The court held that the presence of petit jurors during grand jury instructions, without specific reference to the defendant, did not constitute prejudicial error, especially when the trial court provided curative instructions.
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195 So. 2d 590·
Fla. 1st DCA·
1967-03-02
·cited 2×
The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed a county judge's order admitting a will to probate because the judge improperly took judicial notice of separate, unrelated court records concerning the decedent's mental competency without introducing those records as evidence at tri
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271 F.2d 253·
5th Cir.·
1959-11-03
·cited 2×
The court held that a defendant who apologizes for and requests a curative jury instruction regarding a contempt finding cannot later claim that finding as reversible error on appeal.
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126 Fla. 405·
Fla.·
1936-07-16
·cited 2×
R. W. Evans obtained a peremptory writ of mandamus against the City of Sarasota to compel it to amend its budget and levy a special tax to pay bond obligations owed to Evans. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's judgment, holding that procedural amendments to the
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65 Fla. 312·
Fla.·
1913-03-11
·cited 2×
Russell was convicted of grand larceny and appealed on the ground that the trial court ordered the jury brought into court in his absence. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed, holding that merely directing the jury to be brought into court without requesting or receiving the verdi
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Christopher Barbaro Mesa appealed his conviction and sentence for grand theft of a motor vehicle, challenging the trial court's imposition of a habitual felony offender sentence enhancement without jury fact-finding under Erlinger v. United States. The appellate court affirmed th
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419 So. 3d 1104·
Fla. 1st DCA·
2025-09-03
·cited 1×
Section 440.25(4)(d), Florida Statutes (2020), statutorily precludes Daubert challenges to expert medical advisor reports and opinions by mandating that such reports and testimony "shall be admitted into evidence" in workers' compensation proceedings, thereby eliminating any thre
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Postconviction review of a sentence based on Erlinger is improper because Erlinger was a direct-appeal case involving required jury findings, not a postconviction case, and Apprendi announced a procedural rule that does not apply retroactively.
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401 So. 3d 580·
Fla. 2d DCA·
2025-01-03
·cited 1×
DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide are separate offenses under the Blockburger test and may be imposed for a single death; the single homicide rule is no longer applicable under Florida law. Special conditions of probation not orally pronounced at sentencing must be stricken
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Colby McCoggle, convicted as a juvenile of murder in 1994, appealed his resentencing after his original mandatory life sentence was initially deemed unconstitutional under Miller v. Alabama but later upheld as constitutional under subsequent case law. The appellate court affirmed
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The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict among district courts regarding whether erroneous denial of a for-cause juror challenge in civil cases is per se reversible error or subject to harmless error review. The Court held that harmless error analysis applies, but on remand,
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An agency must rule on a petition for formal administrative hearing within fifteen days under the Administrative Procedure Act, and its failure to do so violates due process and prevents dismissal with prejudice. The relation back doctrine cannot cure an amended petition filed ou
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A Nelson hearing was not required because Butler made only general complaints of dissatisfaction with counsel's trial preparation and strategy rather than a clear and unequivocal request to discharge counsel, and any such request was untimely after trial began. The Faretta inquir
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The trial court erred in excluding Appellant's testimony about two alleged prior consensual sexual encounters with the victim, as such testimony concerned activity between the victim and the defendant—not with a third party—and thus fell outside the rape shield statute. However,
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The appellate court reversed a misdemeanor battery conviction because the trial court improperly allowed a law enforcement officer to testify that the defendant was the primary aggressor. This testimony invaded the jury's province to decide the self-defense claim, and the error w
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The appellate court reversed a battery conviction because the prosecutor made improper comments and questions during the trial. These comments improperly invaded the jury's province, potentially commented on the defendant's silence, bolstered police testimony, and mischaracterize
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353 So. 3d 1257·
Fla. 2d DCA·
2023-01-13
·cited 1×
The appellate court affirmed the trial court's sentencing of Shaun Jai Mercado, finding no evidence that the judge considered impermissible post-plea misconduct when imposing sentences. The court held that even if such factors were considered, the error was harmless given the len
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The court held that the plaintiff waived several arguments by failing to raise them before the Magistrate Judge or in the joint memorandum, and therefore affirmed the Commissioner's decision to deny Social Security benefits.
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The appellate court reversed a DUI conviction because the trial court improperly excluded evidence of a breathalyzer reading below the legal limit. The court found that this exclusion violated the defendant's right to present a defense and that the error was not harmless.
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The appellate court affirmed a defendant's sentence for unlawful sexual activity with a minor, despite an error in the sentencing scoresheet. The court found the error harmless because the trial court would have imposed the same sentence regardless.
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326 So. 3d 172·
Fla. 3d DCA·
2021-08-18
·cited 1×
Rule 1.140(g) prohibits a defendant from asserting in a successive motion to dismiss any defense available when the initial motion to dismiss was filed, but Rule 1.140(h)(2) allows the failure-to-state-a-cause-of-action defense to be raised subsequently in an answer, motion for j
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323 So. 3d 783·
Fla. 1st DCA·
2021-04-30
·cited 1×
The appellate court affirmed a jury's verdict in a car accident case, holding that the Stricklands' arguments regarding summary judgment and insufficient evidence were either moot or waived. The court found that issues decided by a jury at trial render prior summary judgment ruli
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Steven Caro was convicted of attempted second-degree murder based partly on a police detective's unscientific demonstration comparing bullet holes in test shirts fired from different distances. The court reversed, finding the demonstration inadmissible because critical conditions
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Carlos Cherizard appeals the denial of his Rule 3.800(a) motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing his home-invasion robbery with a firearm conviction was improperly classified as a life felony instead of a first-degree felony. The court affirms the denial of resentencing bu
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Terry Ellison, Jr. petitioned for relief based on ineffective assistance of appellate counsel who failed to challenge a sentencing error involving an improperly applied "adult-on-minor sex offense" multiplier on his criminal scoresheet. The court found the scoresheet error was no
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The trial court did not commit reversible error in overruling the defendant's objections to the State's rebuttal closing argument statements, as they were either proper fair reply to defense argument or constituted harmless error.
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268 So. 3d 863·
Fla. 2d DCA·
2019-03-22
·cited 1×
A trial court abuses its discretion by including depleted marital assets in an equitable distribution scheme without findings of misconduct, and assets acquired during the marriage are presumptively marital unless specifically established as nonmarital; the former wife's FRS pens
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257 So. 3d 143·
Fla. 4th DCA·
2018-10-31
·cited 1×
The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's judgment because the appellant failed to provide a sufficient record of the trial proceedings. Without the record, the appellate court could not review the factual or legal basis of the trial court's decision.
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When sentencing a juvenile offender for crimes of violence, a jury rather than a judge must make the factual finding of whether the defendant actually killed, intended to kill, or attempted to kill the victim.
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A trial court's failure to make case-specific findings required by statute before allowing closed-circuit television testimony does not require reversal when not preserved for appeal and is not fundamental error. Additionally, a defendant's right to communicate with counsel durin
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A prosecutor's comments about a victim's mental and physical condition do not constitute a prohibited "golden rule" argument when the comments are based on trial evidence, relevant to issues in dispute, made in fair reply to defense arguments, and not intended to inflame the jury
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14 Fla. L. Weekly 1594·
Fla. 4th DCA·
2018-06-13
·cited 1×
A substituted plaintiff in a foreclosure action must establish that the original plaintiff possessed the promissory note at the time the complaint was filed, and producing the original note after suit commenced does not satisfy this standing requirement.
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In this Engle progeny tobacco case, the Florida Court of Appeal reversed a jury verdict for tobacco defendants where the trial court made inconsistent evidentiary rulings: excluding the plaintiff's treating pulmonologist's expert opinion on addiction but allowing him to testify a
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Sonny Boy Oats, Jr., a death row inmate, sought habeas corpus relief arguing his death sentence must be vacated under Hurst v. Florida or that a jury (rather than a judge) must determine intellectual disability under Hall v. Florida. The Florida Supreme Court denied relief, holdi
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Scala and Weitz appealed their first-degree grand theft convictions, but the Florida appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial due to pervasive errors, omissions, and inaccuracies in the trial transcripts that prevented meaningful appellate review. The court also addr
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Jesse Ray McCuin was convicted of two counts of burglary of a conveyance after police found him in possession of another man's wallet unrelated to the burglaries. The appellate court reversed his convictions, holding that evidence of the wallet constituted inadmissible collateral
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192 So. 3d 711·
Fla. 1st DCA·
2016-06-07
·cited 1×
George Thompson was convicted of aggravated stalking after a jury trial in which heavily-edited videos of his first court appearance (showing him in jail garb) were admitted. Thompson appealed, arguing that displaying him in jail clothing violated his right to a fair trial and th