MICHAEL RUFFIN, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Michael Ruffin appealed his DUI/manslaughter conviction and sentence, challenging the trial court's exercise of peremptory challenges and the admission of victim impact evidence at sentencing without cross-examination. The appellate court affirmed, finding the peremptory challenge issue was not preserved for review and that due process does not require cross-examination of non-trial witnesses at sentencing in noncapital cases.
The court held that the peremptory challenge issue was not preserved for appellate review because Ruffin failed to renew his objection before the jury was sworn. Regarding sentencing, the court held that due process does not require a noncapital defendant be afforded the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses at sentencing; it requires only that the defendant be afforded the opportunity to refute inaccurate or unreliable information.
[1] A defendant must renew an objection to peremptory challenges prior to the jury being sworn to preserve the issue for appellate review.
[2] Due process in a noncapital sentencing hearing requires only an opportunity to refute information presented, not the right to call and cross-examine witnesses.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“due process requires only that a noncapital criminal defendant be afforded the opportunity to refute information brought against him at sentencing; it does not require that the defendant be given the opportunity to call and cross-examine witnesses to rebut the information.”
Establishes the constitutional standard for sentencing hearings in noncapital cases, limiting due process protections at sentencing compared to trial.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMichael Ruffin was convicted of driving under the influence/manslaughter. During jury selection, the state exercised four peremptory challenges that R…
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GREEN, Judge.
On this appeal, Michael Ruffin makes two challenges to his conviction and sentence for driving under the influence/manslaughter charges.
Ruffin first argues that the trial court reversibly erred when it permitted the state to exercise four of its peremptory challenges in a discriminatory manner. Our review of the record, however, reveals that this issue was not preserved for appellate review where Ruffin failed to renew his objection to these strikes prior to the jury being sworn. Joiner v. State, 618 So. 2d 174,176 (Fla.1993).
Ruffin next asserts that his constitutional rights guaranteed under both the federal and state constitutions were violated during his sentencing hearing. The state was permitted to call a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to make a general statement1 about the seriousness of drinking and driving, and the defense was precluded from cross-examining this representative. Although we have located no state decisions which have addressed this issue, federal courts have found that due process requires only that a noncapital criminal defendant be afforded the opportunity to refute information brought against him at sentencing; it does not require that the defendant be given the opportunity to call and cross-examine witnesses to rebut the information. United States v. Giltner, 889 F. 2d 1004, 1008 (11th Cir.1989); United States v. Satterfield, 743 F. 2d 827, 840 (11th Cir.1984) (both finding that a noncapital defendant does not have a constitutional right to call and cross-examine witnesses to rebut information contained in a presentence report).
These federal decisions point out that the noncapital defendant need not be afforded the same degree of constitutional protections during the sentencing hearing as were required during the trial. Satterfield, 743 F. 2d at 840. That is because the sole interest being protected at sentencing is the right not to be sentenced on the basis of inaccurate or unreliable information. Id.
Thus, it is within the sole discretion of the trial court to determine the kinds and form of information it will consider. Giltner, 889 F. 2d at 1008.
Ruffin does not (and cannot) assert in the instant case that the statement made by the MADD representative about the seriousness of drunk driving was in any way inaccurate or unreliable. We, therefore, can find no constitutional infirmity or abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of any cross-examination of the MADD representative even if the trial court ultimately factored in this information during the imposition of its sentence.
Affirmed.
. The record reflects that the trial court indeed permitted both sides to produce various persons to make statements in support of aggravation and mitigation of any proposed sentence. Neither side was permitted to cross-examine any persons making such statements.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Joiner v. State, 618 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1993)
- United States v. Satterfield, 743 F.2d 827 (11th Cir. 1984)
- Wilcox v. Leverock, 889 F.2d 1004 (11th Cir. 1989)