Meeks v. State, 94-1895

Decision Date14 February 1996
Docket NumberNo. 94-1895,94-1895
Citation667 So.2d 1002
Parties21 Fla. L. Weekly D400 Vincent Lamont MEEKS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County; W. Thomas Spencer, Judge.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Howard K. Blumberg, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Douglas J. Glaid, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before BARKDULL, NESBITT and GODERICH, JJ.

BARKDULL, Judge.

Vincent Meeks appeals from one first degree murder conviction and two attempted first degree murder convictions.

Meeks first contends that the cumulative effect of several comments made by the prosecutor during closing argument was such that he was denied a fair and impartial trial. We find that the remarks were made either in fair reply to defense counsel's argument or were not so egregious when taken in context as to require reversal. See Ferguson v. State, 417 So.2d 639 (Fla.1982); Davis v. State, 590 So.2d 496 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991), rev. denied, 649 So.2d 234 (Fla.1994). And in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt presented by the state 1, any error committed by the trial court in overruling objections to the comments at issue was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla.1986).

We also find no error in the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on armed trespass as the lesser included offense of third degree felony murder and attempted third degree felony murder. First, there was no evidence adduced at trial which would have supported a charge of armed trespass as to the first degree murder charge since it was never contended that Meeks had entered or attempted to enter the car in which the victim was traveling. The jury was, however, properly instructed on third degree murder with the lesser included felonies of aggravated assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle. See Green v. State, 475 So.2d 235 (Fla.1985). Second, there is no longer any offense of attempted felony murder in Florida and so the failure to instruct the jury on this charge cannot be error.

The third point on appeal relates to the convictions for attempted first degree murder. Meeks contends that since the jury was instructed on both attempted premeditated murder and attempted felony murder and because the jury verdict form did not specify whether the guilty verdicts were based upon...

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6 cases
  • Mitchell v. State, 95-2671
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • August 20, 1996
    ...error so as to require a new trial. Lynn v. State, 395 So.2d 621 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. den., 402 So.2d 611 (Fla.1981); Meeks v. State, 667 So.2d 1002 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. den., 677 So.2d 840 (Fla.1996); Irving v. State, 627 So.2d 92 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993); Shaara v. State, 581 So.2d 1339 (Fla. 1s......
  • Harris v. State, 95-771
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • May 22, 1996
    ...case should be remanded for a retrial on the attempted first degree murder charge based upon this court's decision of Meeks v. State, 667 So.2d 1002 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996) and Thompson v. State, 667 So.2d 470 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). We disagree and find the state's reliance upon these cases to be U......
  • Williamson v. State, 95-1715
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 10, 1996
    ...jury used to convict defendant and because the facts could support a guilty verdict on either theory, we reverse. See Meeks v. State, 667 So.2d 1002 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). See also Tape v. State, 661 So.2d 1287 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Harris v. State, 658 So.2d 1226 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Lamb v. S......
  • St. Jean v. State, 97-2718.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • December 9, 1998
    ...641-42 (Fla.1982); Kent v. State, 702 So.2d 265, 269 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), review denied, 717 So.2d 533 (Fla. 1998); Meeks v. State, 667 So.2d 1002, 1002-03 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). ...
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