Goodrich v. State
| Decision Date | 11 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 3D01-3338.,3D01-3338. |
| Parties | Kenny GOODRICH, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robbins, Tunkey, Ross, Amsel, Raben, Waxman & Eiglarsh and Benjamin S. Waxman, for appellant.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Linda S. Katz, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Before LEVY, FLETCHER, and SHEVIN, JJ.
Kenny Goodrich, Defendant below, appeals from a conviction and sentence for aggravated battery with a motor vehicle, violation of condition of pre-trial release, and tampering with a witness. We reverse.
The instant case stems from an incident involving the Defendant and Raisa Ferrer. The three witnesses at trial were Ferrer, the Defendant, and the police detective who investigated the case. Ferrer and the Defendant provided dramatically different characterizations of the incident in question, and the credibility of the witnesses was a major issue at trial. The Record reflects that, on fourteen separate occasions during defense counsel's approximately 25-minute closing argument, the trial court instructed defense counsel to either "move on," "move along," "let's move," or "let's go." Clearly, the trial court wanted defense counsel to "move on" to another point in his argument. On appeal, the Defendant contends that these restrictions imposed by the trial court during defense counsel's closing argument prevented defense counsel from fully addressing both the credibility and potential biases of Ferrer and the police detective. We agree.
The purpose of closing argument is to help the jury understand the issues presented in a case by applying the evidence to the applicable law. See Murphy v. Int'l Robotic Systems, Inc., 766 So.2d 1010, 1028 (Fla.2000) (quoting Hill v. State, 515 So.2d 176, 178 (Fla.1987)). Attorneys should be given great latitude in presenting their closing arguments, but they are required to confine their argument to the facts and evidence presented to the jury, and all logical deductions therefrom. See Murphy, 766 So.2d at 1028 (quoting Knoizen v. Bruegger, 713 So.2d 1071, 1072 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)); see also Crump v. State, 622 So.2d 963, 972 (Fla.1993). The control of comments made to the jury by counsel is within the discretion of the trial court, and an appellate court will not interfere unless a party demonstrates an abuse of discretion. See Crump, 622 So.2d at 972 (citing Occhicone v. State, 570 So.2d 902, 904 (Fla.1990),cert. denied, 500 U.S. 938, 111 S.Ct. 2067, 114 L.Ed.2d 471 (1991)). In the instant case, the trial court abused its discretion through repeatedly telling defense counsel to "move on" throughout the closing argument, thereby preventing defense counsel from arguing his theory of the case.
In Herring v. New York, 422 U.S. 853, 862, 95 S.Ct. 2550, 45 L.Ed.2d 593 (1975), the United States Supreme Court explained the purpose of closing argument as follows:
It can hardly be questioned that closing argument serves to sharpen and clarify the issues for resolution by the trier of fact in a criminal case. For it is only after all the evidence is in that counsel for the parties are in a position to present their respective versions of the case as a whole. Only then can they argue the inferences to be drawn from all the testimony, and point out the weaknesses of their adversaries' positions. And for the defense, closing argument is the last clear chance to persuade the trier of fact that there may be reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt.
Herring, 422 U.S. at 862, 95 S.Ct. 2550 (citing In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970)). Moreover, some courts have further explained that preventing defense counsel from arguing her theory of the case violated a defendant's right to effective assistance of counsel and right to present a defense. See, e.g., United States v. Kellington, 217 F.3d 1084, 1100 (9th Cir.2000) (citing Conde v. Henry, 198 F.3d 734, 739 (9th Cir.1999)). In the instant case, the credibility and biases of the witnesses who testified at trial were central to the Defendant's theory of the case. By preventing counsel from arguing those issues fully, the...
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