MARK A. WILKIE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Mark Wilkie appeals his conviction for burglary of a dwelling with assault with a dangerous weapon, challenging the trial court's decision to consolidate jury selection for his trial with an unrelated trial where his attorney also represented the defendant. The appellate court affirms, holding that consolidating jury selection does not create an impermissible conflict of interest.
The court did not abuse its discretion in consolidating the jury selection process. There is no impermissible joint representation where one lawyer represents defendants in unrelated cases during jury selection only, and generalized objections to the consolidated procedure do not warrant reversal.
[1] Consolidating jury selection for unrelated criminal cases does not constitute an abuse of discretion.
[2] A lawyer representing defendants in unrelated cases during jury selection only does not create a joint representation.
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Establishes the legal principle that representing multiple defendants in unrelated cases during jury selection does not constitute impermissible joint representation or create a conflict of interest.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWilkie was convicted by jury of burglary of a dwelling with assault with a dangerous weapon. The trial court consolidated jury selection for Wilkie's …
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POLEN, J.
Mark Wilkie appeals after a jury convicted him of burglary of a dwelling with an assault with a dangerous weapon. He argues that the court erred in consolidating his jury selection process with that of a second, unrelated trial. We disagree and affirm.
The jury chosen for Wilkie’s trial was from a venire of thirty people. The court decided that the remaining jurors, and in the same order, would form the venire for a second unrelated trial. Although Wilkie was not involved in the second trial, his lawyer represented the defendant who was. Wilkie’s attorney objected to this consolidated procedure on the ground that he would be placed in a position of conflict between two clients in choosing jurors for the two trials. The court overruled the objection.
We hold that the court did not abuse its discretion in consolidating the jury selection process. In this regard, we find Rock v. State, 638 So. 2d 933 (Fla.1994), factually similar. In that case, the trial court consolidated the jury selection process for three unrelated criminal cases from one venire. Rock’s attorney represented two of the three defendants. All prospective jurors challenged and eliminated from the jury pool for one trial rejoined the venire panel for the jury selection in the other trials. Rock’s attorney objected to this process on the ground that he would be placed in a conflict of interest in balancing the interests of his clients during jury selection. The court disagreed, holding that there is no joint representation where one lawyer represents defendants in unrelated cases during jury selection only. Id. at 935.
While the consolidated procedure in Rock varied slightly from that in the instant case,1 we hold that Rock, nevertheless, is controlling. As in Rock, Wilkie’s challenges to the jury selection process were generalized and nonspecific. Thus, his case does not warrant reversal. As to Wilkie’s remaining point on appeal, we also affirm as unpersuasive.
AFFIRMED.
WARNER, C.J., and GROSS, J., concur. . In Rock, the order of the remaining jurors from the first trial was apparently shuffled before rejoining the later venire; in Wilkie’s case, the remaining jurors were rejoined in the same order as they appeared for the first jury selection. We do not find this difference in procedure to mandate a different result.
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Citator
Cited By
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Raleigh Bordon v. State, 777 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Rock v. State, 638 So. 2d 933 (Fla.1994); Wilkie v. State, 747 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). STEVENSON, GROSS and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Rock v. State, 638 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 1994)