LONNIE M. WILLIAMS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a prosecutor improperly vouched for a police officer's credibility during closing argument, and this error was not harmless.
The state's case relied heavily on police testimony, and during closing argument, the prosecutor stated that a police officer was telling the truth an…
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PETERSON, J.
This is a case of prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument in which an objection was made and a motion for mistrial was denied.
The record shows that the state’s case hinged upon the jury’s acceptance of two police officers’ testimony over that of the defendant’s. Rather than allowing the jury to sort out the truth, the prosecutor attempted to tip the balance by vouching for the veracity of one of the police officers. Specifically, the closing argument included the following:
He (the police officer) is just doing his job and telling you all the truth. He has no reason to pick out this defendant from anyone else in the street and arrest him for burglary when this defendant wasn’t even at the location.
A prosecutor may argue any reasons, if supported by the evidence, why a given witness might or might not be biased in a case, but the prosecutor may not properly argue that a police officer must be believed simply because he is a police officer. See, e.g., Cisneros v. State, 678 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Williams v. State, 673 So. 2d 974 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Clark v. State, 632 So. 2d 88 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), overruled on other grounds, T.B. v. State, 669 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).
We cannot consider the comment in this case as harmless error because the limited evidence at trial was only the police officers’ testimony versus the defendant’s testimony. We reverse and remand for a new trial.
W. SHARP, and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
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Citator
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Caraballo v. State, 762 So. 2d 542 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)…are combined with additional acts of prosecutorial overreaching ... the integrity of the judicial process has been compromised and the -resulting convictions and sentences irreparably tainted.” Id. at 7. Caraballo also relies on Williams v. State, 747 So. 2d 474 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (prosecutor improperly vouched for veracity of one of police officers by arguing in part that he was just doing his job and telling the truth),17 Henry v. State, 743 So. 2d 52, 53 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (prosecutor improperly referr…
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Johnson v. State, 801 So. 2d 141 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)…r for the state to vouch for the credibility of a police officer by arguing that the jury should believe police officers solely because they are police officers. Cisneros v. State, 678 So. 2d 888, 890 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); see also Williams v. State, 747 So. 2d 474, 475 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). Nevertheless, prosecutorial comments are not improper where, incident to evaluating a witness’ credibility, jurors are told to ask themselves what motive the officer would have to deceive them. Reyes v. State, 700 So. 2d 4…
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Johnson v. State, 858 So. 2d 1274 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)…argue any reasons, if supported by the evidence, why a given witness might or might not be biased in a case, but the prosecutor may not properly argue that a police officer must be believed simply because he is a police officer.” Williams v. State, 747 So. 2d 474, 475 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). However, here, neither the prosecutor’s observation that the retired officers had nothing to prove, nor the comment that if the detectives had wanted to make up a story, the stories would have been better, amounted to an ar…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Gentile-Youd v. In re Guardianship OF Harriet Rudnick, 632 So. 2d 88 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Cisneros v. State, 678 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- T.B. v. State, 669 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Williams v. State, 673 So. 2d 974 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)