Harmless Error Review

179 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Neal v. State
  132 So. 3d 949· Fla. 1st DCA· 2014-02-21 ·cited 13×
  The court held that the trial court erred by failing to apply the correct legal standard when evaluating the defendant's request to proceed without counsel.
• Williams v. State
  937 So. 2d 771· Fla. 1st DCA· 2006-09-11 ·cited 12×
  Leslie Williams was convicted of attempted second-degree murder and carrying a concealed firearm after a jury trial. The court reversed the attempted murder conviction, finding that instructing the jury on the forcible felony exception to self-defense constituted fundamental erro
• United States v. Johnson
  952 F.2d 565· 1st Cir.· 1991-12-19 ·cited 12×
  The court affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding that the FISA surveillance was lawful, the prosecution's opening statement and admitted evidence were not unfairly prejudicial, and the indictment and evidence for Count Three were sufficient. The court also rejected the F
• Deviney v. State
  213 So. 3d 794· Fla.· 2017-03-23 ·cited 11×
  Randall Deviney was convicted of first-degree murder of Delores Futrell and sentenced to death by jury recommendation of 8-4. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new penalty phase because the non-unanimous jury verdi
• Jones v. State
  212 So. 3d 321· Fla.· 2017-03-02 ·cited 10×
  Henry Lee Jones was convicted of the first-degree premeditated murder of Carlos Perez and sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence, holding that evidence of Jones's similar murders of two other victims was properly admitted to establish i
• Johnson v. State
  205 So. 3d 1285· Fla.· 2016-12-01 ·cited 10×
  The Florida Supreme Court vacated Paul Johnson's death sentences because the jury that recommended death did not unanimously find the facts necessary to impose capital punishment, violating the requirements of Ring v. Arizona and Hurst v. Florida. The court remanded for a new pen
• D.R. v. State
  588 So. 2d 327· Fla. 4th DCA· 1991-11-06 ·cited 10×
  D.R., a juvenile charged with aggravated battery, appeals after the trial court refused to conduct a Richardson hearing to evaluate alleged discovery violations when the state attempted to elicit testimony about a prior police statement that had not been disclosed to the defense.
• United States v. Renado Smith
  928 F.3d 1215· 11th Cir.· 2019-07-02 ·cited 9×
  The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions of Renado Smith and Richard Delancy for conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and related offenses, holding that the district court did not err in admitting the videotaped deposition testimony of a key witness (Vanessa Armstrong Vixama
• R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Schleider
  273 So. 3d 63· Fla. 3d DCA· 2018-12-26 ·cited 9×
  R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company appeals a wrongful death judgment in favor of Diane Schleider and her daughter following Andrew Schleider's death from lung cancer and COPD. The Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District affirms the judgment, holding that the closing arguments
• Baptiste v. State
  179 So. 3d 502· Fla. 1st DCA· 2015-11-24 ·cited 9×
  Peter Baptiste appealed his convictions for armed robbery and conspiracy to rob, challenging the admission of incriminating statements he made to police. The court reversed because officers misrepresented the law by promising Baptiste he could only be charged with simple robbery
• Williams v. State
  163 So. 3d 694· Fla. 4th DCA· 2015-04-29 ·cited 9×
  Anthony Williams was convicted after the trial court denied his request to represent himself, finding he lacked legal knowledge and competency. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard—competency to waive counsel
• Horowitz v. Horowitz
  273 So. 3d 263· Fla. 2d DCA· 2019-05-29 ·cited 8×
  The trial court erred by imputing income to the former wife effective immediately without allowing time for therapy, and by awarding durational alimony without making specific factual findings regarding the former wife's monthly expenses and the former husband's actual ability to
• Lenz v. State
  245 So. 3d 795· Fla. 4th DCA· 2018-04-25 ·cited 8×
  The trial court erred in overruling the defense objection to prosecutorial closing argument that impermissibly commented on the defendant's silence during jail calls and shifted the burden of proof. The trial court also erred in denying the peremptory strike of a prospective juro
• United States v. White
  788 F.2d 390· 6th Cir.· 1986-04-17 ·cited 8×
  The court held that the defendant's petition for rehearing should be denied because no substantial error affecting the outcome of the trial was committed.
• Cleto Marcello Cardona v. Casas
  225 So. 3d 384· Fla. 3d DCA· 2017-08-16 ·cited 7×
  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×
  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
• T.D.W. v. State
  137 So. 3d 574· Fla. 4th DCA· 2014-04-30 ·cited 7×
  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×
  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
• United States v. Kerr
  981 F.2d 1050· 9th Cir.· 1992-12-08 ·cited 7×
  The court held that prosecutorial misconduct, specifically vouching for witnesses, deprived the defendant of a fair trial and affected the jury's verdict.
• Concha v. State
  972 So. 2d 996· Fla. 4th DCA· 2008-01-02 ·cited 6×
  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.
• Griffis v. State
  848 So. 2d 422· Fla. 1st DCA· 2003-07-02 ·cited 6×
  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
• Kowalski v. Gagne
  914 F.2d 299· 1st Cir.· 1990-09-14 ·cited 6×
  The court held that a prior murder conviction can collaterally estop a defendant from contesting liability under the wrongful death statute and the applicability of an intentional act exclusion in an insurance policy. The court also affirmed the admission of the conviction as evi
• Dick v. Kemp
  833 F.2d 1448· 11th Cir.· 1987-11-24 ·cited 6×
  A jury instruction that unconstitutionally shifted the burden of persuasion on intent was not harmless error because the issue of intent was squarely before the jury and the evidence of intent was not overwhelming.
• United States v. Vertuies Wall
  116 F.4th 1285· 11th Cir.· 2024-09-06 ·cited 5×
  Three members of the Gangster Disciples—Vertuies Wall, Lawrence Grice, and Lewis Mobley—appealed their convictions for RICO conspiracy and related offenses, with Grice challenging the sufficiency of evidence and Wall and Mobley challenging various aspects of their convictions and
• United States v. Steiger
  99 F.4th 1316· 11th Cir.· 2024-04-29 ·cited 5×
  The Eleventh Circuit en banc held that unobjected-to sentencing explanation errors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c) are reviewed for plain error, not per se reversal. The court further held that the district court did not commit plain error because the record made clear its reasons for
• United States v. Utsick
  45 F.4th 1325· 11th Cir.· 2022-08-22 ·cited 5×
  The court affirmed the sentence and restitution order, holding that the rule of specialty and extradition treaty did not bar consideration of Utsick's pre-extradition conduct for sentencing purposes.
• Williams v. State
  163 So. 3d 740· Fla. 1st DCA· 2015-05-01 ·cited 5×
  David Antonio Williams was convicted of battery and resisting a law enforcement officer but appeals, arguing the trial court improperly denied his request for self-representation. The Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that once a defendant makes an unequivo
• Amato Scott v. State
  151 So. 3d 567· Fla. 1st DCA· 2014-12-22 ·cited 5×
  Amato Scott was convicted of second-degree murder, but the appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial after finding that two incriminating statements he made to police were obtained in violation of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. The court determined that t
• Vilseis v. State
  117 So. 3d 867· Fla. 4th DCA· 2013-07-17 ·cited 5×
  The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed Vilseis's burglary and grand theft convictions because the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses by admitting a key eyewitness's discovery deposition as substantive evidence when she was unable to testify
• Johnson v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't of Corr.
  132 F.4th 1309· 11th Cir.· 2025-03-25 ·cited 4×
  Admission of a medical report without the author's testimony did not violate the Confrontation Clause because the defendant cannot prove actual prejudice from the error.
• United States v. Buselli
  106 F.4th 1273· 11th Cir.· 2024-07-11 ·cited 4×
  Gretchen Buselli was convicted of murder-for-hire under 18 U.S.C. § 1958 and making false statements to a federal agent after recorded calls and surveillance showed her hiring someone to kill her estranged husband for $25,000 and lying to the FBI about it. The Eleventh Circuit af
• Abraham v. State
  339 So. 3d 370· Fla. 4th DCA· 2022-06-08 ·cited 4×
  The appellate court reversed a defendant's sentence because it was based on an improperly calculated sentencing scoresheet. The court found that the errors in the scoresheet were not harmless and remanded the case for resentencing with a corrected scoresheet. The court affirmed o
• Boggess v. State
  269 So. 3d 616· Fla. 4th DCA· 2019-04-10 ·cited 4×
  The trial court properly excluded two prior consistent statements made well after the shooting (a letter and statement to his son) where defendant referred to the shooting as an accident, as they were not temporally tied to the specific charge of recent fabrication based on defen
• In re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIM. CASES-REPORT 2018-08.
  259 So. 3d 754· Fla.· 2018-12-13 ·cited 4×
  The Florida Supreme Court authorized amendments to three standard criminal jury instructions (7.3 on Felony Murder–First Degree, 7.4 on Murder–Second Degree, and 10.7(d) on Destructive Devices) to comply with the Court's holding in Williams v. State that Alleyne v. United States
• White v. State
  214 So. 3d 541· Fla.· 2017-03-30 ·cited 4×
  Dwayne White was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife and sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury vote of 8-4. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but vacated the death sentence because the Hurst v. State error—requiring unanimous j
• Gennaro Calabrese v. State
  886 So. 2d 396· Fla. 1st DCA· 2004-11-15 ·cited 4×
  Calabrese was convicted of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine after a jury acquitted him of the underlying trafficking charge. The appellate court reversed, finding that the trial court committed fundamental error by failing to instruct the jury on the 'independent act' doctrine as
• Barnes v. State
  864 So. 2d 1200· Fla. 1st DCA· 2004-01-14 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the jury instruction given on Count One was fundamentally erroneous because it reduced the State's burden of proof on the disputed element of the appellant's knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance.
• United States v. Santiago
  977 F.2d 517· 10th Cir.· 1992-10-13 ·cited 4×
  The court held that an intended loss for sentencing enhancement purposes cannot exceed the economically realistic probable or actual loss. It also held that a defendant is not entitled to a reduction for an incomplete attempt if they completed all acts they believed necessary for
• United States v. Soto
  953 F.2d 263· 6th Cir.· 1992-01-10 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the defendant's post-arrest statement, elicited by police conduct that was the functional equivalent of interrogation after he invoked his right to counsel, was obtained in violation of his Miranda rights.
• Gorzynski v. State
  255 So. 3d 990· Fla. 2d DCA· 2018-10-10 ·cited 3×
  Any error in admitting booking reports as hearsay evidence at sentencing was harmless where the same information was properly included in the presentence investigation report and the trial court's sentencing determination was clearly based on the defendant's unsuitability for sup
• White v. State
  17 So. 3d 822· Fla. 5th DCA· 2009-08-21 ·cited 3×
  Darryl White appeals his convictions for first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm, challenging the admission of the victim's dying declarations, the mention of a polygraph examination during plea testimony, and his involuntary absence from trial. The appellate court affirms
• Crain v. State
  246 So. 3d 206· Fla.· 2018-04-05 ·cited 2×
  Willie Seth Crain, Jr. challenged his death sentence on postconviction appeal based on Hurst v. Florida, arguing that sentencing errors were not harmless. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of his successive motion for postconviction relief, holding that the jury's una
• State v. Smith
  251 So. 3d 807· Fla.· 2018-04-05 ·cited 2×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the postconviction court's order granting Joseph Smith a new penalty phase following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida, which requires a unanimous jury finding on all facts necessary to impose death. The court held that the H
• Guzman v. State
  238 So. 3d 146· Fla.· 2018-02-22 ·cited 2×
  James Guzman was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the 1991 death of David Colvin and sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions but vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new penalty phase due to Hurst error requiring jury u
• Robards v. State
  214 So. 3d 568· Fla.· 2017-04-06 ·cited 2×
  Richard Todd Robards appeals the denial of his motion for postconviction relief from two death sentences. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of his ineffective assistance of counsel claims regarding the guilt phase, but granted him a new penalty phase proceeding under
• Simmons v. State
  207 So. 3d 860· Fla.· 2016-12-22 ·cited 2×
  Eric Lee Simmons was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. On appeal following a resentencing proceeding, the Florida Supreme Court vacated the death sentence based on Hurst v. Florida, holding that the jury failed to unanimously find that aggravating factors were sufficien
• Taylor v. State
  140 So. 3d 1149· Fla. 1st DCA· 2014-06-27 ·cited 2×
  Trial court reversibly erred by denying defendant's unequivocal assertion of right to self-representation and forcing appointed counsel upon him, despite finding a valid waiver of counsel; structural error requires reversal and new trial.
• Williams v. State
  892 So. 2d 1185· Fla. 5th DCA· 2005-02-04 ·cited 2×
  Jason Williams appeals his conviction for lewd and lascivious battery on a 14-year-old girl, arguing his confession was coerced by detective misrepresentations. The appellate court affirms because Williams failed to preserve the issue by not filing a motion to suppress the confes
• United States v. Johnson
  983 F.2d 33· 5th Cir.· 1993-04-12 ·cited 2×
• United States v. Scott
  987 F.2d 261· 5th Cir.· 1993-03-22 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the district court's failure to properly apprise the defendant of the direct consequences of his guilty plea, in violation of Fed.R.Crim.P. 11, constituted an entire failure to address a core concern, requiring automatic reversal. Additionally, convictions for