FELIPE BELTRAN, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The harmless error rule applies to cases where offenses have been misjoined in a single information. A per se rule of reversal for misjoinder is rejected.
The Third District Court of Appeal found misjoinder of offenses in a single information but deemed it harmless error, affirming the conviction. The pe…
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OVERTON, Justice.
We have for review Beltran v. State, 530 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988), in which the Third District Court of Appeal found the state had improperly joined offenses occurring on two separate dates, but determined the misjoinder to be harmless error and affirmed the conviction for the offenses committed on the second date. The district court certified the following question to be of great public importance:
DOES THE HARMLESS ERROR RULE APPLY TO CASES IN WHICH OFFENSES HAVE BEEN MISJOINED IN A SINGLE INFORMATION?
Id. at 1049.* The petitioner seeks a per se rule of reversal for a misjoinder of offenses. We reject that solution. We answered the question in the affirmative in Livingston v. State, 565 So. 2d 1288 (Fla.1988). In that decision, we followed the holding of the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Lane, 474 U.S. 438, 106 S.Ct. 725, 88 L.Ed.2d 814 (1986), and held that harmless error may properly be applied to the misjoinder of offenses. We reaffirm that holding.
Petitioner also claims that, if the harmless error rule applies, the district court misapplied it under the circumstances of this case. The district court, in determining that the harmless error rule applied, recognized the principles that must be utilized in making that determination, as we expressed in State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986). Although we have discretion to do so, we find no justification to grant a second review of that issue and, consequently, decline to review that claim. For the reasons expressed, the decision of the district court is approved.
It is so ordered.
SHAW, C.J., and McDONALD, EHRLICH, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur. *
We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.
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Lavon D. Jackson v. State, 729 So. 2d 947 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…alysis contained in State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986), has been applied in a number of situations where information or evidence at least as prejudicial as that in this case has been improperly presented to the jury.7 In Beltran v. State, 566 So. 2d 792 (Fla.1990), the supreme court approved use of the harmless error analysis by the Third District Court of Appeal in a case where offenses had been improperly tried together. See also Salley v. State, 633 So. 2d 1130 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (harmless error…
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Vidal v. State, 578 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…1 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986); Nunez v. State, 542 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Meadows v. State, 534 So. 2d 1233 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); Spivey v. State, 533 So. 2d 306 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Beltran v. State, 530 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988), approved, 566 So. 2d 792 (Fla.1990); Lazarowicz v. State, 561 So. 2d 392, 396-397 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).…
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Bierer v. State, 582 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…on the jury’s verdict. See also Beltran v. State, 530 So. 2d 1045, 1047 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (misjoinder requires reversal “only if it results in a miscarriage of justice or has injuriously affected the substantial rights of the defendant”), approved, 566 So. 2d 792 (Fla.1990). In this case the defendant exercised parental-type supervision of the neighborhood child on a daily basis at his home. On the authorities cited, we conclude that such an arrangement constitutes care within the broad familial context. By…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. DiGUILIO, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1986)
- United States v. Lane, 474 U.S. 438 (U.S. 1986)
- Livingston v. State, 565 So. 2d 1288 (Fla. 1988)
- Beltran v. State, 530 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)