Roth v. State, 80-870

Decision Date10 June 1980
Docket NumberNo. 80-870,80-870
Citation385 So.2d 114
PartiesJoseph ROTH, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Joseph Roth, in pro. per.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before HENDRY, NESBITT and BASKIN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The defendant was indicted for the offense of first degree murder by a grand jury for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit on June 4, 1976 under Section 782.04, Florida Statutes (1973). At trial, the state announced it would not seek the death penalty in the event the defendant was convicted of first degree murder. On this representation, with the advice of his counsel, agreement by the state, and approval of the court, the defendant expressly waived his right to be tried by a twelve-person jury expressly stipulating that the case be tried by a six-person jury. He was convicted of murder in the first degree, adjudicated, and sentenced to a mandatory twenty-five-year life imprisonment. His judgment of conviction was affirmed here. Roth v. State, 359 So.2d 881 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978), cert. denied, 367 So.2d 1126 (Fla.1979).

The defendant then commenced this collateral attack of the judgment in the sentencing court, pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, claiming he could not have intelligently and voluntarily relinquished the fundamental right to be tried by a twelve-person jury. He contends his right to be tried by a twelve-person jury as provided by Section 913.10, Florida Statutes (1973) and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.270 is confirmatory of his organic right to a trial by jury of twelve persons embodied in the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and Article I, Sections 16 and 22 of the Florida Constitution.

We find this contention was a matter which could have been raised on direct appeal and is thereby unassailable in a collateral attack on a judgment. Harvey v. State, 383 So.2d 770 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Clements v. State, 320 So.2d 44 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); Phillips v. State, 313 So.2d 428 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). The fact that the basis of the defendant's collateral attack is alleged to be one of constitutional dimension does not preclude a waiver by the failure to assert it on direct appeal. Clark v. State, 363 So.2d 331 (Fla.1978); Sanford v. Rubin, 237 So.2d 134 (Fla.1970); Harvey v. State, supra.

Additionally, we find that our Supreme Court has approved a defendant's intelligent waiver of the right to trial by jury, in a death case, with consent of the...

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14 cases
  • Dobbert v. Wainwright
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida
    • 3 Septiembre 1984
    ...191 (Fla.1981); Pittman v. State, 401 So.2d 934 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); Savino v. State, 397 So.2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Roth v. State, 385 So.2d 114 (Fla.3d DCA 1980). The Florida Supreme Court enforces its procedural default rules in capital cases. See Meeks v. State, 382 So.2d 673 (Fla.......
  • Douglas v. Wainwright
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • 19 Septiembre 1983
    ...So.2d 184, 191 (Fla.1981); Pittman v. State, 401 So.2d 934 (Fla.App.1981); Savino v. State, 397 So.2d 1236 (Fla.App.1981); Roth v. State, 385 So.2d 114 (Fla.App.1980). This court in Ford v. Strickland, 696 F.2d 804 at 815-816 (11th Cir.1983), held that, given this interpretation of Rule 3.8......
  • Nova v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 13 Septiembre 1983
    ...motion, and this court, per curiam, affirmed, merely citing to Knight v. State, 394 So.2d 997, 1001 (Fla.1981), and Roth v. State, 385 So.2d 114, 115 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). See Nova v. State, 414 So.2d 629 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). The trial court, presented with the motion which is the subject of t......
  • Groomes v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 21 Julio 1981
    ...the defendant could agree, with the consent of the state, and approval of the court, to be tried by a six-person jury. Roth v. State, 385 So.2d 114 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). In Groomes' case the waiver was in writing, Powers v. State, 370 So.2d 854 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), cert. denied, 379 So.2d 209 ......
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