LEON D. FINKLEA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1985-06-18
No. AZ-432
MILLS, J., concurs., NIMMONS, J., concurs with written opinion.
471 So. 2d 608 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1985) Caution
Cited by 14 cases

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Synopsis

Leon Finklea was convicted by jury of armed robbery and aggravated battery and sentenced to life plus 15 years consecutive. On appeal, he challenged the prosecution's use of peremptory challenges to exclude all black jurors, resulting in an all-white jury. The court affirmed the conviction under the new Neil test but reversed the sentence due to the trial court's failure to use sentencing guidelines.


Holding

The court held that under the new Neil test, appellant did not make a sufficient showing in the trial court to require reversal on the peremptory challenge issue, as he merely asserted the circumstance of the challenges without demonstrating a strong likelihood of racial discrimination that would shift the burden to the prosecution. However, the court held that the trial court's failure to have a sentencing guidelines scoresheet at sentencing constituted reversible error requiring resentencing.


Headnotes

[1] A party seeking to challenge the prosecution's use of peremptory challenges must demonstrate that the challenged persons are members of a distinct racial group and that t…

[2] If a party demonstrates a strong likelihood that peremptory challenges are being exercised solely on the basis of race, the burden shifts to the party exercising the chal…

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Key Quotes

“The initial presumption is that peremptories will be exercised in a non-discriminatory manner. A party concerned about the other side's use of peremptory challenges must make a timely objection and demonstrate on the record that the challenged persons are members of a distinct racial group and that there is a strong likelihood that they have been challenged solely because of their race.”

Establishes the first prong of the Neil test requiring the challenging party to make an initial showing of likely racial discrimination before shifting the burden to the prosecution

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant Finklea was tried before a jury for armed robbery and aggravated battery. Nine prospective black jurors were excluded through peremptory cha…

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Opinion of the Court
PEARSON, TILLMAN (Ret.), Associate Judge.

PEARSON, TILLMAN (Ret.), Associate Judge.

Appellant was found guilty after jury trial of armed robbery and aggravated battery. He was adjudged guilty and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment and 15 years, consecutively. The controlling question on the adjudication of guilt is whether the trial court committed reversible error in denying appellant’s motion for a mistrial based upon appellant’s assertion that the prosecution had exercised peremptory challenges to systematically exclude all black jurors solely on the basis of race.

The record shows that nine of the prospective jurors who were excluded upon peremptory challenges were black and that, at the trial, appellant faced an all-white jury.

In Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 222, 85 S.Ct. 824, 837, 13 L.Ed.2d 759, 763 (1965), the United States Supreme Court, in a case where peremptory challenges had been used with the result that all six of the available jurors who were black were excluded from the jury, held (380 U.S. at 222, 85 S.Ct. at 837):

The presumption in any particular case must be that the prosecutor is using the State’s challenges to obtain a fair and impartial jury to try the case before the court. The presumption is not overcome and the prosecutor therefore subjected to examination by allegations that in the case at hand all Negroes were removed from the jury or that they were removed because they were Negroes.

However, the Florida Supreme Court, in State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla.1984), has adopted a more liberal test and has set forth, as follows, the means by which it is to be applied:

Instead of Swain, trial courts should apply the following test. The initial presumption is that peremptories will be exercised in a non-discriminatory manner. A party concerned about the other side’s use of peremptory challenges must make a timely objection and demonstrate on the record that the challenged persons are members of a distinct racial group and that there is a strong likelihood that they have been challenged solely because of their race. If a party accomplishes this, then the trial court must decide if there is a substantial likelihood that the peremptory challenges are being exercised solely on the basis of race. If the court finds no such likelihood, no inquiry may be made of the person exercising the questioned peremptories. On the other hand, if the court decides that such a likelihood has been shown to exist, the burden shifts to the complained-about party to show that the questioned challenges were not exercised solely because of the prospective jurors’ race. The reasons given in response to the court’s inquiry need not be equivalent to those for a challenge for cause. If the party shows that the challenges were based on the particular case on trial, the parties or witnesses, or characteristics of the challenged persons other than race, then the inquiry should end and jury selection should continue. On the other hand, if the party has actually been challenging prospective jurors solely on the basis of race, then the court should dismiss that jury pool and start voir dire over with a new pool.

There is extensive argument in the parties’ briefs as to whether State v. Neil is to be applied retroactively. We would hold that the application of Neil to cases on direct appeal at the time of the Neil decision is not a retroactive application of the decision. See Jones v. State, 466 So. 2d 301 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). Thus, in applying the Neil test to the case sub judi-ce, it is clear upon this record that appellant did not make a sufficient showing in the trial court to require reversal. Initially, at the time of the motion for a mistrial, appellant merely asserted the circumstance of the challenge of the prospective jurors and took the position that the facts stood for systematic exclusion. At a reported bench conference, the court discussed the various challenges and found that there was not a substantial likelihood that they had been exercised solely on the basis of race. We find nothing in this record which would justify a reversal of the trial court on this point. Accordingly, under the Neil test, error has not been demonstrated upon appellant’s first point.

Appellant’s second point is directed to a jury instruction given by the court. Our review of the entire record convinces us that no prejudicial error has been shown. Sections 59.041 and 924.33, Florida Statutes (1983).

Appellant’s third point is directed to the court’s failure to Have a sentencing guidelines scoresheet at the time that sentence was imposed. The record supports this point, and the sentence must be reversed. Gage v. State, 461 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984).

The judgment is affirmed, the sentence is reversed, and the cause is remanded for resentencing.

MILLS, J., concurs.

NIMMONS, J., concurs with written opinion.

Concurrence
NIMMONS, Judge,

NIMMONS, Judge,

concurring.

I concur in Judge Pearson’s opinion. I would only emphasize that the defendant’s attorney failed to carry his initial burden under Neil of demonstrating on the record that “there is a strong likelihood that [the black prospective jurors were] challenged solely because of their race.” 457 So. 2d at 486. Absent such showing the complaining party is not entitled under Neil to further inquiry.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Huhn v. State, 511 So. 2d 583 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
    …have a proper scoresheet is a sufficient basis for reversal of the sentence. E.g., Kolbe v. State, 480 So. 2d 694, 695 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) (“It was also reversible error not to have a guidelines scoresheet available at sentencing. Finklea v. State, 471 So. 2d 608 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Myrick v. State, 461 So. 2d 1359 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984).”) Because the judgment is reversed for errors discussed earlier, the irregularity of the sentencing becomes moot. However, we wish to avoid future error. First, it appears th…
  • Taylor v. State, 491 So. 2d 1150 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)
    …that the challenged persons are members of a distinct racial group and that there is a strong likelihood that they have been challenged solely because of their race." No such showing was made here, nor could it have been. See also Finklea v. State, 471 So. 2d 608, 610 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (appellant merely pointing out that all blacks have been excluded is not sufficient showing). . Appellant contends that these reasons are not valid because they pertained to other jurors in the pool who were not stricken, c…
  • Hans Richard Kolbe v. State, 480 So. 2d 694 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)
    …nes sentencing. See, e.g., Rodriguez v. State, 458 [*695] So. 2d 899 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Jordan v. State, 460 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). It was also reversible error not to have a guidelines scoresheet available at sentencing. Finklea v. State, 471 So. 2d 608 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Myrick v. State, 461 So. 2d 1359 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). We therefore vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. REVERSED AND REMANDED. HURLEY and DELL, JJ., concur.…

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