ANGEL DIAZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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GROSS, J.
We find one unpreserved error, but no fundamental error, in the prosecutor’s closing argument. “A prosecutor’s obligation is to secure justice, not victory at any cost.” Cruse v. State, 522 So. 2d 90, 91 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). However, this duty does not limit prosecutors’ closing arguments to flat, robotic recitations of “just the facts.” Closing argument “is a time for robust, vigorous, challenging ... of an opponent’s ideas.” Norman v. Gloria Farms, Inc., 668 So. 2d 1016, 1032 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996) (Farmer, J., dissenting). We have great confidence in the common sense of jurors to decide cases on the law and facts without being unduly swayed by the lawyers’ oratory. A prosecutor does not violate her obligation to seek justice by arguing the state’s case with passion and conviction.
On the remaining issue, appellant did not preserve his objections to the quality of the trial court’s factual findings required by section 90.803(23), Florida Statutes (2000). Such error, if any, was not fundamental error. See Anderson v. State, 655 So. 2d 1118, 1119 (Fla.1995); State v. Townsend, 635 So. 2d 949, 959 (Fla.1994).
KLEIN and SHAHOOD, JJ., concur.
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Jackson v. State, 89 So. 3d 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)…this case did not argue credibility by injecting into the case her personal belief in Dingle’s credibility. We close by noting that a prosecutor’s closing argument is not limited to a “flat, robotic recitation[] of ‘just the facts.’” Diaz v. State, 797 So. 2d 1286, 1287 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). To the contrary, a prosecutor may robustly and vigorously argue the truthfulness of a witness whose credibility is under attack. As we wrote in Diaz, [w]e have great confidence in the common sense of jurors to decide case…
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Brinson v. State, 153 So. 3d 972 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)…ments and may advance all legitimate arguments and draw logical inferences from the evidence. See McArthur, 801 So. 2d at 1039^40. Moreover, prosecutors in specific are not limited to a robotic presentation on behalf of the State. See Diaz v. State, 797 So. 2d 1286, 1287 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). However, “[a] criminal trial is a neutral arena wherein both sides place evidence for the jury’s consideration; the role of counsel in clos [*981] ing argument is to assist the jury in analyzing that evidence, not to obscu…
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Villella v. State, 833 So. 2d 192 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)…’s comments convey the idea there was no evidence because there was no affair, when in fact the defense proffered this evidence and sought to have it admitted. The prosecutor’s obligation is to secure justice, not victory at any cost. Diaz v. State, 797 So. 2d 1286 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Blackshear v. State, 774 So. 2d 893 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Because of the fundamentally unfair comments of the prosecutor, I concur with the granting of a new trial.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Townsend, 635 So. 2d 949 (Fla. 1994)
- Norman v. Gloria Farms, Inc., 668 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Anderson v. State, 655 So. 2d 1118 (Fla. 1995)
- Cruse v. State, 522 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)