THOMAS ALLEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Florida appellate court affirmed convictions for grand theft and possession of a motor vehicle with removed serial number, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defense counsel's request to interview jurors based on unsubstantiated allegations of juror misconduct.
A trial court does not abuse its discretion in denying a request to interview jurors when the allegations of misconduct are based on speculation or conjecture rather than concrete evidence.
[1] A request for investigation of juror conduct must be based on concrete evidence rather than speculation or conjecture, and denial of such a request is reviewed for abuse…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAllen was convicted of grand theft and possession of a motor vehicle from which the serial number had been removed. After conviction, defense counsel …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Juror Misconduct cases and more on FLexlaw
WENTWORTH, Judge.
Appellant seeks review of judgments of conviction and sentences for the offenses of grand theft and possession of a motor vehicle from which the serial number had been removed. On appeal appellant asserts that the court below erred in declining to authorize juror interviews requested by appellant’s counsel. We find no error in this regard, and we therefore affirm the judgments and sentences appealed.
In seeking authorization to question jurors counsel presented appellant’s testimony that a juror acquainted with appellant’s spouse did not so advise the court. However, the record of voir dire indicates that no inquiry was made of the juror in this regard. Counsel also presented appellant’s testimony that the sheriff was overheard telling another juror that, “You did me a good favor today, and if anybody bothers with you, you let me know....” We conclude that these assertions are not of such character as to raise an inference of juror misconduct. A request for investigation as to juror conduct should not be based upon speculation or conjecture, and is addressed to the trial court’s discretion. See Walker v. State, 330 So. 2d 110 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). Appellant has not shown an abuse of discretion in the circumstances of the present case, and the court did not err in denying counsel’s request to authorize juror interviews.
The judgments and sentences appealed are affirmed.
MILLS and NIMMONS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Nicholas v. State, 47 So. 3d 297 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…iage, and he answered this question truthfully. There was no concealment because the juror’s answers to the questions propounded on voir dire were accurate. See Bigham, 995 So. 2d at 215; McGough, 536 So. 2d at 1189. The decision in Allen v. State, 493 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), is on point. In Allen, a juror failed to inform the court that he was acquainted with the defendant’s spouse. Id. at 1080. On appeal, the First District held that the juror’s omission to inform the court did not raise an inferen…
-
Carlton Victor Foraker v. State, 731 So. 2d 110 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)…we do not think the allegations that a juror was sleeping during the trial were sufficiently specific and egregious to require the trial judge to conduct an investigation into misconduct. Devoney v. State, 717 So. 2d 501 (Fla.1998); Allen v. State, 493 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). Here Foraker’s daughter acknowledged she was not sure whether the juror was sleeping or merely had her eyes closed. The trial judge noted this juror would occasionally close her eyes, but it was clear to him the juror was listen…
Authorities Cited
- Walker v. State, 330 So. 2d 110 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)