JOHN ZIERMANN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Trial court erred by restricting defendant's counsel from conducting proper direct examination regarding prior convictions, requiring reversal and new trial where credibility was central to a sexual assault case turning on conflicting eyewitness testimony.
A trial court commits harmful error by refusing to permit defense counsel to conduct direct examination of the defendant in accordance with established precedent allowing inquiry into the nature of prior convictions.
[1] A trial court commits harmful error by restricting defense counsel's direct examination of a defendant regarding prior convictions where credibility is central to the cas…
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 intelligence“It was harmful error for the trial court to refuse to permit appellant's counsel to conduct direct examination of his client in accordance with Lawhorne v. State, 500 So. 2d 519, 521 (Fla.1986); Johnson v. State, 679 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996), rev. denied, 689 So. 2d 1070 (Fla.1997); and Vann v. State, 666 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995).”
Court's statement of the legal error committed by the trial court in restricting direct examination
Appellant was charged with sexual assault. The only eyewitness testimony came from the victim and the appellant, whose accounts conflicted. Appellant …
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PER CURIAM.
While we are not persuaded by appellant’s first point on appeal, we are as to his second; therefore, we reverse and remand for new trial.
It was harmful error for the trial court to refuse to permit appellant’s counsel to conduct direct examination of his client in accordance with Lawhorne v. State, 500 So. 2d 519, 521 (Fla.1986); Johnson v. State, 679 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996), rev. denied, 689 So. 2d 1070 (Fla.1997); and Vann v. State, 666 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995).
The only eyewitness testimony as to what happened was the conflicting testimony of the victim and appellant. Thus, the credibility of appellant was significant in this case. If the defense had been permitted to ask appellant about the substance of his prior convictions, the jury would have learned that appellant’s prior convictions concerned credit card fraud, i.e., not sexual assault type offenses. Furthermore, if appellant had been permitted to explain that he pled guilty in the prior ease because he was guilty, the implied assertion would be that he was not guilty in this case because he chose to go to trial. Under these circumstances, it cannot be said beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial court’s error did not contribute to appellant’s conviction.
GLICKSTEIN, KLEIN and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Ross v. State, 913 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…at 523. A defendant’s testimony that he pled guilty in prior cases because he was guilty implies that he elected to go to trial in the present case because he is not guilty. See Bowles v. State, 849 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003); Ziermann v. State, 696 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). When defense counsel attempts to rehabilitate the defendant by having him testify that he obtained his past convictions by pleading guilty, it opens the door to some extent to the state’s inquiry into his reasons for pleading g…
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Scurry v. State, 701 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…tify to the criminal charge underlying his prior felo [*588] ny conviction. He relies on a line of cases that involve allowing a testifying defendant “anticipatory rehabilitation.” See Lawhorne v. State, 500 So. 2d 519 (Fla.1986); Ziermann v. State, 696 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); Johnson v. State, 679 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996), review denied, 689 So. 2d 1070 (Fla.1997); and Vann v. State, 666 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). In Lawhome, the issue was whether the defendant could testify that he had ent…
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Bowles v. State, 849 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)…s of his prior convictions on direct examination in order to ameliorate the highly negative effect that such evidence was likely to have on the jury’s perception of the defendant in terms of his character and credibility. See also Ziermann v. State, 696 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). In Ziermann, we concluded that a defendant must be permitted to explain that he pled guilty in a prior case because he was guilty, the implication to the jury being that, because he elected to go to trial in the present case, h…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Lawhorne v. State, 500 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 1986)
- Okea Johnson v. State, 679 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)
- Vann v. State, 666 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)