KHALIE ELAMIN HAMID, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a trial court must exercise its discretion to weigh the evidence when considering a motion for a new trial, and failure to do so requires reversal and remand.
[1] A trial court may grant a new trial if the jury's verdict is against the weight of the evidence.
[2] A trial court abuses its discretion by failing to exercise its discretion to weigh the evidence and assess witness credibility when considering a motion for a new trial.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant was convicted of battery and lewd assault. The trial court denied the defendant's motion for a new trial, stating it believed it was bou…
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PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction and sentence for battery and lewd assault. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the conviction and remand for reconsideration.
In denying the defendant’s motion for a new trial, the trial court stated:
I have to act upon the decision in what I think to be a legal manner ... so I don’t have much of a choice, as far as doing something about the results of the jury’s verdict.
I can’t go back on the jury’s verdict. I can’t read into the jury’s decision as to why they did what they did.
The testimony in the case met the legal standard necessary to go to a jury, and that’s why it did go to a jury and the jury made a decision in this case as to his guilt or innocence, whether we like it or not, based upon the evidence that was put before them.
The trial court “mistakenly believed that if the evidence presented was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict, it was not legally permitted to grant a new trial on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.” Uprevert v. State, 507 So. 2d 162, 163 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). Here, as in Uprevert, the record “suggests that the trial court may have entertained serious doubts about whether the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.” Id. at n. 2. That being the case, Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.600(a)(2) “enables the trial judge to weigh the evidence and determine the credibility of witnesses so as to act, in effect, as an additional juror.” Tibbs v. State, 397 So. 2d 1120, 1123 n. 9 (Fla.1981), aff'd, 457 U.S. 31, 102 S.Ct. 2211, 72 L.Ed.2d 652 (1982).
“Therefore, where, as here, the record leaves no doubt that the trial court failed to exercise its unique discretion to assess a weight of the evidence claim, reversal and remand for appropriate findings are required.” Uprevert, 507 So. 2d at 164.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.1
. We express no opinion on the merits of the trial court's decision. On remand, the trial court is free to grant or again deny the motion for a new trial, this time in light of the proper standard.
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Geibel v. State, 817 So. 2d 1042 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)…to de novo review. Appellate courts have thus reversed judgments when the trial court applied a sufficiency of the evidence standard to a motion for new trial based upon the manifest weight of the evidence. See Moore, 800 So. 2d 747; Hamid v. State, 782 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001). In this case, although the trial judge was an experienced jurist who may have applied the proper standard, we are unable to establish whether he applied the correct standard from his oral pronouncement, particularly in light of h…
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Moore v. State, 800 So. 2d 747 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…d). Since this pronouncement in Tibbs, appellate courts have held this to be the appropriate function of the trial court in deciding a motion for new trial which alleges that the verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence. See Hamid v. State, 782 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); State v. Hart, 632 So. 2d 134 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Uprevert v. State, 507 So. 2d 162 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Gonzalez v. State, 449 So. 2d 882 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 458 So. 2d 274 (Fla.1984); see also State v. May, 703 So. 2d 1…
Authorities Cited
- Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31 (U.S. 1982)
- Delbert Lee Tibbs v. State, 397 So. 2d 1120 (Fla. 1981)
- Henri Uprevert v. State, 507 So. 2d 162 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)