Heinz v. State
| Decision Date | 09 March 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-1224,92-1224 |
| Citation | 615 So.2d 238 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Parties | 18 Fla. L. Week. D686 Frank HEINZ, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Amy Agnoli and Lydia A. Fernandez, Sp. Asst. Public Defenders, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Scott Stoloff, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before HUBBART, NESBITT and LEVY, JJ.
This is an appeal by the defendant Frank Heinz from final judgments of conviction and sentences for (a) burglary of a structure with an assault [Sec. 810.02(2)(a), Fla.Stat. (1989) ], and (b) six counts of false imprisonment [Sec. 787.02(2), Fla.Stat. (1989) ]. We affirm.
The sole point on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying a defense motion for mistrial based on an alleged burden-shifting argument made by the prosecuting attorney to the jury. We reject this point because we are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no reasonable possibility that this argument, even if improper, contributed to the verdict and, consequently, a mistrial was not required. We reach this result for three reasons: (1) the arguably improper argument was a fleeting, one-sentence comment, and was not a prolonged, inflammatory argument (TR. 768); (2) the trial court sustained, almost immediately, a defense objection to this argument and shortly thereafter gave the jury an appropriate cautionary instruction (TR. 767-68, 772); and (3) the evidence that the defendant committed the crimes for which he was convicted was strong and pointed unerringly to the defendant. Bush v. Dugger, 579 So.2d 725, 727 (Fla.1991); State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla.1986); Buchanan v. State, 575 So.2d 704, 707 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991); Broxson v. State, 505 So.2d 1361, 1364 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. denied, 518 So.2d 1273 (Fla.1987).
Affirmed.
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De Jesus v. State, 95-2384
...entirely and require a new one. See Bonifay v. State, 680 So.2d 413 (Fla.1996); King v. State, 623 So.2d 486 (Fla.1993); Heinz v. State, 615 So.2d 238 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). They surely bear no resemblance to the kinds of attacks on defense counsel or the defense itself which mandate reversal.......
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Pozo v. State
...conviction will not be overturned unless a prosecutor's comment is so prejudicial that it vitiates the entire trial"); Heinz v. State, 615 So.2d 238 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). On Issue IV, we vacated the two consecutive habitual felony offender sentences pursuant to Hale v. State, 630 So.2d 521, 5......
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Rodriguez v. State
...misstatement could have been readily corrected with a curative instruction had the defense objected. For example, in Heinz v. State, 615 So.2d 238, 239 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), we affirmed a conviction after the prosecutor made an improper burden shifting argument where the defense objected and ......
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Heinz v. Moore, 99-2256.
...General, for respondents. Before JORGENSON, GREEN, and SHEVIN, JJ. PER CURIAM. Petition for habeas corpus denied. See Heinz v. State, 615 So.2d 238 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); Hickman v. State, 581 So.2d 942, 942 n. 2 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1991) (laches may bar habeas corpus ...