664 Florida cases classified under this topic, plus 839 listed through its narrower topics · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort
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The court denied the defendant's motions for judgment of acquittal and for a new trial. The court found sufficient evidence to support the attempted rape convictions and that the prosecutor's closing arguments did not constitute reversible error.
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The court affirmed the Commissioner's decision denying child disability benefits, finding the ALJ applied correct legal standards and substantial evidence supported the findings.
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M.D. Fla.·
2019-09-06
The court affirmed the Commissioner's decision, finding the ALJ's denial of disability benefits was supported by substantial evidence and proper legal standards.
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Renado Smith and Richard Delancy, two Bahamian nationals, were convicted of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, alien smuggling, and attempted illegal reentry after operating a boat that transported 21 Haitian nationals toward the United States in November 2016. The Eleventh Ci
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275 So. 3d 760·
Fla. 5th DCA·
2019-06-21
A patient's statement in a medical record identifying the cause of an accident is admissible as an admission by a party-opponent under Florida Evidence Code § 90.803(18)(a), even if the statement may have been transmitted through multiple hospital staff members, provided each lay
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The Florida Supreme Court initially accepted jurisdiction to review a district court's decision based on alleged conflict but ultimately determined jurisdiction was improvidently granted. The Court discharged jurisdiction and dismissed the review proceeding, finding no apparent c
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The Florida Supreme Court discharged jurisdiction and dismissed a review proceeding, concluding that jurisdiction was improvidently granted. The case involved a conflict regarding whether a trial court's failure to make written findings constitutes harmless error or requires per
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An upward departure sentence based on the trial court's finding of an escalating pattern of criminal conduct, without jury determination, violates Apprendi and Blakely but constitutes harmless error when the record demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would
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Defendant appealed his sentence for armed kidnapping and robbery, challenging the trial court's denial of a downward departure motion and alleging scoresheet errors. The appellate court affirmed the denial of the downward departure but reversed and remanded for resentencing due t
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A defendant's statement qualifies as an excited utterance admissible under Florida Statute § 90.803(2) when it satisfies the three-prong test: the event is startling enough to cause nervous excitement, the statement is made before there is time to contrive or misrepresent, and th
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261 So. 3d 668·
Fla. 2d DCA·
2018-11-28
Florida appellate court affirmed probation revocation and sentencing but remanded for correction of scoresheet errors that assessed four additional legal status points and twelve additional community violation points.
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Eriese Alphonso Tisdale was convicted of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and sentenced to death based on a 9-3 jury recommendation. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed all convictions and non-capital sentences but vacated the death sentence because the non-unanimo
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A defendant has a constitutional right to be present and represented by counsel at a resentencing hearing when the trial court has discretion in imposing the corrected sentence. The error in resentencing in absentia and without counsel is not harmless when the trial court exercis
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245 So. 3d 1013·
Fla. 5th DCA·
2018-06-15
Brown was convicted of two counts of DUI/manslaughter and sentenced to three years imprisonment. On appeal, he challenged the admission of expert testimony regarding alcohol's effects on the body, vehicle speed estimation, and the exclusion of rebuttal witness testimony. The cour
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A sentencing scoresheet error is not harmless when the record does not conclusively show the trial court would have imposed the same sentence using a correct scoresheet, regardless of whether the error is a simple mathematical mistake.
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245 So. 3d 699·
Fla. 2d DCA·
2018-04-27
A trial court's instruction that was irrelevant to any fact in issue constitutes reversible error when it effectively negates the defendant's self-defense claim, particularly when combined with prosecutorial arguments stating the defendant had no right to self-defense, and cannot
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The trial court properly admitted a booking photograph to refresh an arresting deputy's recollection of the defendant's identity, distinguishing this case from situations involving suggestive single photographs shown to lay witnesses. Even if erroneous, any error was harmless bey
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Del. Super. Ct.·
2017-08-18
The court denied the plaintiff's motion for relief from order, finding it barred by Rule 59(e) as a motion for reargument filed outside the appropriate period. Even if considered on its merits, the court found no basis for relief under Rules 60 or 61. The court determined that th
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Johnathan Simon was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the shooting death of Jason Maharaj and wounding of a fourteen-year-old. Simon appealed, arguing that the state's DNA expert committed fundamental error by bolstering her credibility through
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When a defendant is convicted of traveling to meet a minor after solicitation and separate solicitation offenses based on different conduct—here, distinct communications to different persons—double jeopardy principles require vacation of only one of the solicitation convictions,
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A juvenile convicted of sexual battery appeals his disposition after the trial court conducted part of the disposition hearing in his absence, hearing testimony from the victim's mother and a Department of Juvenile Justice representative without the juvenile present. The court re
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The Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed Lewis's conviction for battery within a detention facility due to the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of simple battery, following binding precedent despite recognizing the rule creates
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The court held that the trial court erred in sentencing the defendant under the criminal punishment code applicable at the time of probation revocation, rather than the law in effect at the time of the original offenses.
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185 So. 3d 537·
Fla. 3d DCA·
2015-12-23
Affirmed; where a general verdict is rendered without proper objection and multiple causes of action are submitted to the jury, reversal is improper when the appellant cannot establish prejudice as to one issue.
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In this workers' compensation case, the court addressed whether an employee's psychiatric injury and related hospitalizations were compensable, and whether the employer/carrier was properly ordered to pay psychiatric providers and reimburse third-party payers. The court affirmed
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Phillip Wheeler appeals his life sentence imposed upon resentencing for a 1997 sexual battery offense, arguing that although the trial judge orally pronounced reasons for departure at the resentencing hearing, the judge failed to comply with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.7
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Jason Morse was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm and sentenced to 461.25 months based on an erroneous Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet. The appellate court found the scoresheet improperly calculated the offense points
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The defendant was convicted of felony battery and appealed the trial court's exclusion of his fiancée's testimony due to a violation of the witness sequestration rule. The appellate court held that the trial court erred by applying the sequestration rule as a strict rule of law w
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Defendant Jouzdani was convicted of kidnapping, extortion, and grand theft arising from an incident where he allegedly held a man at gunpoint to recover lost drug money. The appellate court reversed the convictions due to a trial court error in allowing improper impeachment of a
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79 So. 3d 115·
Fla. 4th DCA·
2012-01-18
The court held that while the trial court erred in admitting irrelevant evidence, the error was harmless and did not contribute to the conviction.
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Juvenile's delinquency adjudication affirmed despite erroneous admission of unauthenticated school attendance records, as the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Keren-Esther Harp was convicted of Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Damage and Reckless Driving Causing Injury to Property. The appellate court reversed her conviction because the trial court erroneously admitted hearsay testimony from a community service aide about stateme
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A defendant cannot be sentenced without counsel present unless there is a knowing and voluntary waiver of the right to counsel, and proceeding to sentencing when defense counsel is absent and no waiver is shown in the record constitutes fundamental error requiring reversal.
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Edward VanWagner was convicted of armed kidnapping based on jury instructions that allowed conviction under intent elements not charged in the indictment. The Fourth District granted his habeas corpus petition for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, finding fundamental e
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The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding cross-examination of the defendant's expert regarding the hospital's allegedly disproportionate rate of AFE diagnoses, as such evidence was collateral to the negligence claim and immaterial to whether the defendant neglige
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Samuel Benzant appealed his convictions for first-degree murder and armed robbery, challenging the admission of evidence regarding a prior failed robbery attempt and details about the source of the murder weapon from his taped confession. The Florida District Court of Appeal affi
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The court held that the exclusion of evidence regarding the complaining witness's prior false accusations of sexual misconduct violated the Confrontation Clause and was not harmless error.
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Vadhani Williams appealed his convictions for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm, arguing the trial court erroneously prohibited cross-examination of the victim regarding a pending battery charge. The appellate court agreed the trial court erred
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The court held that the trial court did not err in denying motions to suppress the defendant's confession and the child victim's hearsay statements.
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The court held that defendants' appeals are frivolous due to their waivers and that 28 U.S.C. § 1915 is constitutional as it does not grant a right to appointed counsel for frivolous appeals.
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959 So. 2d 1216·
Fla. 3d DCA·
2007-06-20
Jason Jerrod Bodie appeals his convictions for three counts of attempted murder and unlawful firearm possession, arguing a new trial is warranted due to missing portions of the trial transcript. Although the State's thirty-minute closing argument could not be reconstructed, the a
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The concurring opinion agrees with the majority's analysis but disagrees with the conclusion that the improper closing arguments were not harmful, citing the size of the verdict as evidence of harmfulness.
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Johnson appealed his cocaine sale conviction, challenging the trial court's admission of testimony that he was the subject of a drug investigation. While the appellate court found the testimony's admission was error, it affirmed the conviction because the error was harmless given
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The court held that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 replaced discretionary sentencing, and post-Booker sentencing requires consultation of the Guidelines and § 3553(a) factors, with appellate review for unreasonableness.
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884 So. 2d 1157·
Fla. 1st DCA·
2004-10-28
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872 So. 2d 453·
Fla. 2d DCA·
2004-05-19
Jovon Mims appealed his conviction for drug sales and fleeing police, challenging the admission of his statement to a deputy that he had not sold drugs in four months. The Florida appellate court agreed that admission of this statement constituted error because it was relevant on
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Michael Mooney appealed the trial court's denial of his Rule 3.800 motion to correct his sentence based on a scoresheet miscalculation. The court affirmed the denial, finding that although the scoresheet contained a calculation error, the trial court would have imposed the same l