RONALD TUCKER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Ronald Tucker appealed his conviction, challenging whether he validly waived his right to a jury trial through oral waiver with counsel present. The Fourth District affirmed the conviction but certified to the Florida Supreme Court the important question of whether a represented defendant can orally waive jury trial rights with proper judicial explanation of consequences.
The court affirmed Tucker's conviction, holding that where a defendant is represented by counsel and waives a jury trial, it is not necessary to specifically inform the defendant of the right to participate in jury selection or that jury verdict must be unanimous, as Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.260 contains no such requirement. However, the court certified this issue as one of great public importance for the Florida Supreme Court.
[1] A defendant represented by counsel may orally waive a jury trial if the trial judge provides a full explanation of the consequences.
[2] A defendant represented by counsel who waives a jury trial need not be specifically informed of the right to participate in jury selection or that a jury verdict must be…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“CAN A DEFENDANT, REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL, ORALLY WAIVE A JURY TRIAL, IF A FULL EXPLANATION OF THE CONSEQUENCES IS GIVEN BY THE TRIAL JUDGE?”
Statement of the certified question of great public importance presented to the Florida Supreme Court.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRonald Tucker was a codefendant with John Ringemann in a trial court proceeding. Tucker, represented by counsel, orally waived his right to a jury tri…
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LETTS, Judge.
This cause is per curiam affirmed. However, one issue troubles us. The question once more presented, as it was in Ringemann v. State, 546 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), and which we now certify as being of great public importance, is:
CAN A DEFENDANT, REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL, ORALLY WAIVE A JURY TRIAL, IF A FULL EXPLANATION OF THE CONSEQUENCES IS GIVEN BY THE TRIAL JUDGE?
Before us now is defendant Tucker, who was John Ringemann’s codefendant in the trial court. Needless to say, the supreme court answering the above question in the negative would require a reversal of this case and would also require reversal of Ringemann, which we understand has been appealed to the supreme court.
Specifically, in the case sub judice, we have been cited to a third district decision, Enrique v. State, 408 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), rev. denied, 418 So. 2d 1280 (Fla.1982), where a defendant without counsel was found not to have knowingly and intelligently waived a jury trial, first orally and then in writing. The court noted that at a minimum, a defendant should be told that he had the right to participate in any jury selection and that he could not be convicted unless the jury verdict was unanimous. The Enrique case was not cited to us in Ringemann; however, we are not perturbed by that since we believe Enrique can be distinguished because in' that case, the defendant had no counsel. Indeed, in footnote 3 of Enrique, the court appeared to make that same distinction. Moreover, in Dumas v. State, 439 So. 2d 246 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), rev. denied, 462 So. 2d 1105 (Fla.1985), the third district upheld an oral waiver, and also did so in Smith v. State, 539 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).
In any event, we believe that where a defendant is represented by counsel and waives a jury trial, it should not be necessary to specifically inform him that he has a right to participate in jury selection and that a jury verdict must be unanimous for a conviction. Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.260 contains no such requirement.
We find no merit in any other point on appeal.
AFFIRMED.
WALDEN and GUNTHER, JJ., concur.
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Tucker v. State, 559 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 1990)…McDonald, justice. The district court in this case, Tucker v. State, 547 So. 2d 270, 271 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), certified the following question to be of great public importance: Can a defendant, represented by counsel, orally waive a jury trial, if a full explanation of the consequences is given by the trial judge? We have jurisdi…
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Zinnerman v. State, 985 So. 2d 672 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)…tion certified to be of great public importance by the Fourth District concerning whether “a defendant, represented by counsel, [can] orally waive a jury trial, if a full explanation of the consequences is given by the trial judge.” Tucker v. State, 547 So. 2d 270, 271 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). The Fourth District had concluded that the trial court’s explanation to Tucker was sufficient. Id. Although the content of the trial court colloquy is not set forth by the Fourth District in its Tucker opinion, it is set f…
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Robinson v. State, 674 So. 2d 160 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)…waiver is ineffective unless the defendant is given an oral explanation by the judge. The colloquy utilized in Tucker is set out in Ringemann v. State, 546 So. 2d 52, 53 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 551 So. 2d 462 (Fla.1989). See Tucker v. State, 547 So. 2d 270, 271 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), decision approved, Tucker v. State, 559 So. 2d at 220. It is inconsistent to allow a one-line written waiver under rule 3.260, while holding that the self-same words are insufficient if the defendant personally announces…
Authorities Cited
- Dumas v. State, 439 So. 2d 246 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- Reynold Enrique v. State, 408 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- Dumas v. State, 462 So. 2d 1105 (Fla. 1985)
- Smith v. State, 539 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
- Ringemann v. State, 546 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)