JOSE RAMON ENRIQUEZ, APPELLANT,

v.

THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-12-19

No. 87-1929

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and HUBBART and GERSTEN, JJ.

561 So. 2d 1189 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Positive Treatment

Cited by 2 cases

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.

Holding

A twelve-person jury is required for a first-degree murder trial, even if the death penalty is waived.

Facts & Procedural History

The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and armed burglary by a six-person jury. The defendant did not waive his right to a…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Topics

Certified Question Of Great Public Importance Waiver Of Jury Trial Right To Jury Trial

Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Certified Question Of Great Public Importance cases and more on FLexlaw

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by the defendant Jose Ramon Enriquez from final judgments of conviction and sentences for first-degree murder, armed robbery, and armed burglary entered upon an adverse jury verdict rendered by a six-person jury. We have previously reversed an order granting the defendant a new trial in this case. State v. Enriquez, 503 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987).

Because the defendant was tried below by a six-person jury and did not personally waive his right to be tried by a twelve-person jury, we reverse the defendant’s first-degree murder conviction and remand the cause to the trial court with directions to conduct a new trial on this charge alone; the fact that the state did not seek the death penalty in this case cannot change this result. Poole v. State, 550 So. 2d 1144 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Joseph v. State, 550 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Mustelier v. State, 550 So. 2d 1124 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Rodriguez-Acosta v. State, 548 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Griffith v. State, 548 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Jones v. State, 548 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989). We affirm, however, the armed robbery and armed burglary convictions because the defendant raises no point on appeal concerning these convictions.

At the request of the state, we certify the following question as one of great public importance so as to allow for further review of this decision by the Florida Supreme Court pursuant to Article V, Section 3(b)(4), of the Florida Constitution.

Whether a twelve-person jury is required in a first-degree murder case in which the prosecution waives the death penalty.

Affirmed in part; reversed in part.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

State v. Enriquez, 572 So. 2d 515 (Fla. 1990)

…OVERTON, Justice. The state of Florida petitions this Court to review Enriquez v. State, 561 So. 2d 1189 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), in which the Third District Court of Appeal reversed Enri-quez’s first-degree murder conviction because he “was tried below by a six-person jury and did not personally waive his right to be tried by a twelve-person jury.” Id. at…

Authorities Cited

Rodriguez-Acosta v. State, 548 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
Jones v. State, 548 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
Griffith v. State, 548 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
State v. J.R.R., 550 So. 2d 1124 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
Poole v. State, 550 So. 2d 1144 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
State v. Enriquez, 503 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
Sylvia v. State, 550 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
Joseph v. State, 550 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw