RONALD D. JANSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Ronald Janson appeals his first-degree arson and insurance fraud conviction, challenging the trial court's allowance of witness testimony transcripts in the jury room. The court found the practice violated Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.400 but affirmed the conviction as harmless error due to overwhelming evidence of guilt.
The court held that allowing witness transcripts in the jury room violated Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.400, but the error was not per se reversible. The error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because there was overwhelming and unrebutted evidence of the defendant's guilt.
[1] A trial court errs by allowing a jury to take witness transcripts into the jury room during deliberations.
[2] Allowing witness transcripts in the jury room is not per se reversible error.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“allowing a jury to have access to videotaped witness statements during deliberations has much the same prejudicial effect as submitting depositions to the jury during deliberations. By permitting the jurors to see the interview once again in the jury room, there is a real danger that the child's statements will be unfairly given more emphasis than other testimony.”
Establishes the prejudicial effect of allowing out-of-court witness materials in the jury room, which the court applied to transcripts
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJanson was convicted of first-degree arson and burning to defraud an insurer. During jury deliberations, the trial court allowed the jury to have tran…
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GOSHORN, J.
Ronald Janson appeals his conviction on charges of first-degree arson and burning to defraud an insurer. He raises several issues on appeal, only one of which merits discussion.
Janson argues that the trial court erred in allowing the jury, over objection, to have the transcript of two witnesses in the jury room. We agree this was error. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.400, “Materials to the Jury Room,” lists the items the jury is allowed to have in the jury room, and it does not include trial transcripts. Although it would have been proper to reread the testimony to the jury in the courtroom, apparently no Florida case has considered the effect of allowing the jury to review the transcript of a witness’s testimony in the jury room. Guidance may be found, however, in Young v. State, 645 So. 2d 965 (Fla.1994) wherein the supreme court considered the effect of allowing videotaped interviews of the child victims which were admitted into evidence to be taken into the jury room and reviewed during deliberations. The court wrote that allowing a jury to have access to videotaped witness statements during deliberations has much the same prejudicial effect as submitting depositions to the jury during deliberations. By permitting the jurors to see the interview once again in the jury room, there is a real danger that the child’s statements will be unfairly given more emphasis than other testimony. Furthermore, unlike testimony in open court or even deposition testimony, the interviews are conducted on an ex parte basis without the right of cross-examination. Thus, we hold that videotaped out-of-court interviews with child victims introduced into evidence under section 90.803(23) shall not be allowed into the jury room during deliberations. When faced with a similar issue, the Supreme Court of Wyoming reached the same conclusion. Chambers v. State, 726 P. 2d 1269 (Wyo.1986). Contra State v. Kraushaar, 470 N.W. 2d 509 (Minn.1991); State v. Jennings, 815 S.W. 2d 434 (Mo.Ct.App.1991). Our ruling would not prevent the trial judge from allowing the jury to view the videotape a second time in open court upon request pursuant to rule 3.410.
Id. at 967-68.
We believe that the same rationale applies to transcripts allowed in the jury room. Having found error, we must now consider whether that error is reversible. Just as the supreme court in Young found that allowing the videotape to go to the jury room was not per se reversible error, we find that allowing a witness’s transcribed testimony in the jury room is likewise, not per se reversible.
After review of the entire record, we find that there was overwhelming and unre-butted evidence of Defendant’s guilt. There is no reasonable possibility the error contributed to the conviction and therefore we find the error harmless beyond any reasonable doubt. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129, 1135 (Fla.1986).
AFFIRMED.
COBB and W. SHARP, JJ., concur.
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Hazuri v. State, 91 So. 3d 836 (Fla. 2012)…quired to provide a written copy of the jury instructions to be taken into the jury room. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.400(b). The rule’s omission of transcripts from the list of permissible items indicates that transcripts are prohibited. See Janson v. State, 730 So. 2d 734, 734 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (holding that the trial court erred in permitting transcripts of testimony of two witnesses in the jury room). This Court has held that a transcript of prior testimony which was read to the jury during trial should not be pr…
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Hazuri v. State, 23 So. 3d 857 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)…n from the person having it in custody, a copy shall be taken or sent instead of the original. Nowhere does the above-quoted rule contain a provision allowing the jury to receive transcripts of trial testimony in the jury room. See Janson v. State, 730 So. 2d 734, 735 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); cf. Barnes v. State, 970 So. 2d 332, 339 (Fla.2007) (holding transcript of testimony at prior trial which was admitted in evidence could not be taken to jury room); Young v. State, 645 So. 2d 965, 967 (Fla.1994) (holding vi…
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Shana Barnes v. State, 970 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 2007)…2 So. 2d 380 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) (Barnes II), asserting that it expressly and directly conflicts with the decision of this Court in Young v. State, 645 So. 2d 965 (Fla.1994), and the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Janson v. State, 730 So. 2d 734 (Fla. [*334] 5th DCA 1999), review denied, 767 So. 2d 457 (Fla.2000), on a question of law. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On August 7, 2000, Shana Barnes was charged with second-degree murder…1 / 2
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. DiGUILIO, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1986)
- Young v. State, 645 So. 2d 965 (Fla. 1994)