Johnson v. State

• Decision Date: 27 January 2011
• Docket Number: No. SC09–966.,SC09–966.
• Citation: 53 So.3d 1003
• Parties: Aundra JOHNSON, Petitioner,v.STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

53 So.3d 1003

Aundra JOHNSON, Petitioner,

v.STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC09–966.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Oct. 7, 2010.As Revised on Denial of Rehearing Jan. 27, 2011.

Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Robert Kalter, Assistant Public Defender, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami, FL, for Petitioner.Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Richard L. Polin, Bureau Chief, and Nicholas Merlin, Assistant Attorneys General, Miami, FL, for Respondent.PER CURIAM.

Aundra Johnson seeks review of the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal in Johnson v. State, 10 So.3d 680 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009), on the basis that it expressly and directly conflicts with decisions of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Biscardi v. State, 511 So.2d 575 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); Huhn v. State, 511 So.2d 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); and Rigdon v. State, 621 So.2d 475 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993).¹ The issue before this Court is whether it is per se reversible error when a judge erroneously instructs a jury prior to deliberations that it cannot have any testimony read back. We hold that the error, if preserved, is per se reversible because it is impossible to determine the effect of the erroneous instruction on the jury without engaging in speculation, and thus a reviewing court is unable to conduct a harmless error analysis. Accordingly, we quash the Third District's decision in Johnson and approve of the Fourth District's decisions in Biscardi, Huhn, and Rigdon.

FACTS

Aundra Johnson was tried on charges of burglary and fleeing a police officer. At trial, prior to jury deliberation, the judge read a set of standard jury instructions that were compiled with the approval of the State and the defense. The judge then added the following instruction not previously mentioned at the charge conference:

Now let me caution you regarding the communication, if you want to ask a question regarding the facts, let me caution you that we don't have I [sic] simultaneous transcript of these proceedings so we don't have a transcript and any questions regarding the facts, I will tell you that you must rely upon your own recollection of the evidence.

The judge went on to instruct the jury: “If you have a question regarding the law, I will tell you that you have all the laws that pertains to this case in those instructions, there are no other laws.” ²

Johnson specifically objected to the judge's instruction that the jury could not have testimony read back, stating that the jury has a right to have testimony read back. The judge overruled the objection, and prior to the jury retiring to deliberate, the judge once again instructed the jury:

Ladies and gentlemen and, again, if you have a question regarding the facts, I cannot reopen the facts. I cannot explain the evidence to you. The normal answer that I give you is that you must rely upon your own recollection of the evidence. If you have differences of opinion you must hash them out amongst yourselves.

After deliberations without any questions being asked by the jury or any requests for the read-back of testimony, the jury convicted Johnson of the crime of fleeing a police officer, but acquitted him of the burglary charge.

On appeal to the Third District, Johnson claimed that the trial judge erred in instructing the jury that the law did not permit him to read back testimony. The Third District agreed and concluded that the trial court erred by discouraging the jury from requesting any read-back of testimony, which the State conceded. In particular, the Third District stated: “[W]hile the trial court has the discretion to deny a jury's request to read back testimony, it may not mislead the jury into thinking that a read-back is prohibited.” Johnson, 10 So.3d at 681 (quoting Avila v. State, 781 So.2d 413, 415 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)). However, the Third District held that the error was harmless based upon its conclusion that the evidence against Johnson was “overwhelming.” Id.³ Consequently, the Third District affirmed Johnson's conviction and sentence. Id. at 682. Judge Cope dissented to the use of a harmless error test and alternatively disagreed that the error could be deemed harmless in this case:

We should order a new trial. Defense counsel timely and correctly objected to the trial court's instruction. Neither the State nor the majority opinion has cited any authority for the proposition that this type of error is subject to harmless error analysis. Assuming arguendo that such an analysis could be applied, it is inappropriate here, where the jury had enough reasonable doubt about the State's case to acquit the defendant on a number of charges.Id.

The Third District's holding that the error was harmless conflicts with the Fourth District's decisions in Biscardi, Huhn, and Rigdon, all cases in which the Fourth District applied the per se reversible error rule to similar misleading jury instructions.

ANALYSIS

The issue before this Court is whether a trial court's erroneous instruction that the jury is not permitted to request read-backs of testimony is per se reversible or whether a reviewing court can determine that the error was harmless. To resolve the issue, we first explain why the trial court's instruction was erroneous. Next, we discuss the harmless error test and per se reversible error. We then discuss the situations in which Florida courts apply the per se reversible error rule and review the reasoning of the Fourth District cases that are in conflict with the decision on review in this case. We conclude that when a judge erroneously instructs a jury that it may not request to have testimony read back, a reviewing court is unable to conduct a harmless error analysis because it is impossible to determine the effect of the erroneous instruction on the jury. The reviewing court cannot determine what testimony the jurors might have requested to have read back, and thus it is impossible to determine the effect of the error on the jury without engaging in speculation. Accordingly, we must hold that such error is per se reversible.

It is undisputed that it is error for a judge to instruct a jury, prior to deliberations, that it cannot have any testimony or instruction read back.⁴ Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.410 states:

After the jurors have retired to consider their verdict, if they request additional instructions or to have any testimony read to them they shall be conducted into the courtroom by the officer who has them in charge and the court may give them the additional instructions or may order the testimony read to them. Because the rule provides that juries may have testimony read back, it is clearly error for a trial judge to advise a jury otherwise. Johnson objected to the erroneous instruction, thereby preserving the error for review.

When an error is preserved for appellate review by a proper objection, an appellate court applies either a harmless error test or a per se reversible error rule.⁵ Although a defendant is not entitled to a completely error-free trial, he or she has a constitutional right to a fair trial free of harmful error. See Goodwin v. State, 751 So.2d 537, 538–39, 541 (Fla.1999). Thus, the role of the appellate courts is to ensure that criminal trials are free of harmful error, the presence of which would require reversal. The harmless error rule is “concerned with the due process right to a fair trial” and “preserves the accused's constitutional right to a fair trial by requiring the state to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the specific [errors] did not contribute to the verdict.” State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129, 1135–36 (Fla.1986).

The test for harmless error focuses on the effect of the error on the trier of fact. Id. at 1139. “The question is whether there is a reasonable possibility that the error affected the verdict.” Id. The burden is on the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the outcome. Id. The harmless error test is not

a sufficiency-of-the-evidence, a correct result, a not clearly wrong, a substantial evidence, a more probable than not, a clear and convincing, or even an overwhelming evidence test. Harmless error is not a device for the appellate court to substitute itself for the trier-of-fact by simply weighing the evidence.

Id.; see also Ventura, 29 So.3d at 1089–90; Cuervo v. State, 967 So.2d 155, 167 (Fla.2007); Cardenas v. State, 867 So.2d 384, 395 (Fla.2004); Williams, 863 So.2d at 1189–90. Thus, to apply the harmless error test, the reviewing court must be able to determine the effect of the error on the trier of fact.

Like the harmless error test, the per se reversible error rule is concerned with the right to a fair trial. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d at 1135. “The test of whether a given type of error can be properly categorized as per se reversible is the harmless error test itself.” Id. “If application of the test to the type of error involved will always result in a finding that the error is harmful, then it is proper to categorize the error as per se reversible.” Id.

This Court has also applied the per se reversible error rule to those cases where the appellate court is unable to conduct a harmless error analysis because it would have to engage in pure speculation in order to attempt to determine the potential effect of the error on the jury. These circumstances include when a trial judge “respond[s] to a request from the jury without the prosecuting attorney, the defendant, and defendant's counsel being present and having the opportunity to participate in the discussion of the action to be taken on the jury's request.” Ivory v. State, 351 So.2d 26, 28 (Fla.1977); see also Bradley v. State, 513 So.2d 112, 113–14 (Fla.1987) (“[B]oth the state and the defendant must have the opportunity to participate, regardless of the subject matter of the jury's inquiry. Without this process, preserved in the record, it is impossible to determine whether prejudice has occurred during one...