JOHN ALLEN SINGLETARY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2002-11-07
No. 1D01-2674
MINER, KAHN, and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
829 So. 2d 978 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2002) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Singletary appeals his conviction for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and fleeing a police officer. He argues the trial court erred by allowing officer testimony characterizing his conduct, failing to properly instruct the jury on the fleeing charge, and imposing a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. The appellate court affirmed, finding no reversible error.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in declining to grant a mistrial based on the isolated officer statements, which were immediately struck with curative instructions. The jury instruction issue was subject to affirmative waiver by defense counsel who failed to object and affirmatively admitted having no defense to the charge. The sentencing issue was not reviewable on direct appeal due to the appellant's failure to raise it under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b).


Headnotes

[1] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by declining to grant a mistrial when a witness's improper characterization of an act is brief, isolated, not elicited by the…

[2] A defendant may affirmatively waive a claim of error regarding a jury instruction, even if the error is constitutional, by agreeing to the instruction and admitting to th…

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Key Quotes

“The comments by the officers were brief and isolated, were not elicited by the State, were not highlighted in closing, and did not comprise the only evidence concerning Singletary's intent. Additionally, the trial court immediately struck both statements and gave curative instructions to the jury.”

Establishes the basis for finding no trial court abuse of discretion in denying mistrial motion based on officer statements.

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Facts & Procedural History

On December 29, 2000, Singletary was stopped by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for an illegally displayed temporary tag. After initially stopping, Sing…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

On this direct appeal, John Allen Single-tary raises three points. Specifically, Sin-gletary argues that the trial court committed reversible error and denied him a fair trial on the charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer when one of the State’s key witnesses, a police officer, characterized Singletary’s act as an “aggravated assault” and another officer testified that the act (an automobile collision) was “intentional.” Next, Singletary argues that the trial court committed fundamental error when instructing the jury on the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. Finally, Singletary argues that the trial court committed fundamental error in sentencing him to a three-year minimum mandatory for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. We affirm.

The pertinent facts are not disputed. Around 8:25 p.m. on December 29, 2000, Singletary was stopped by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for an illegally displayed temporary tag. After initially stopping, Singletary fled in his vehicle, leading officers on a ten-minute, six-mile chase. The vehicle pursuit ended when Singletary drove his car into an occupied, stationary, police vehicle. Singletary then fled on foot and was apprehended shortly after. Sin-gletary was charged with, among other things, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, a vehicle, in violation of section 784.07(2)(c), Florida Statutes (2000); and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer at high speed in violation of section 316.1935(3), Florida Statutes (2000).

First, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to grant a mistrial when one police officer characterized Singletary’s act as an “aggravated assault” and another officer stated that the collision was “intentional.” See Gore v. State, 784 So. 2d 418, 427 (Fla.2001). The comments by the officers were brief and isolated, were not elicited by the State, were not highlighted in closing, and did not comprise the only evidence concerning Single-tary’s intent. Additionally, the trial court immediately struck both statements and gave curative instructions to the jury.

Second, Singletary argues that the jury instruction included a non-existent element of the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. Singletary’s counsel not only failed to object to the instruction, but actually agreed to it, specifically acknowledging that he had no objections. Moreover, counsel affirmatively, and with Singletary’s assent, admitted to the jury that he had no defense to the fleeing and eluding charge. This is a case of affirmative waiver. See Hanks v. State, 786 So. 2d 634, 635 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001), review denied 805 So. 2d 807 (Fla.2001) (finding that even constitutional error may be waived by a tactical decision on the part of defense counsel). Because we decide this issue on grounds of affirmative waiver, we need not consider whether we would follow the view of section 316.1935, Florida Statutes, subscribed to in Anderson v. State, 780 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).

Third, this court has created a bright line test where an appellant seeks review of unpreserved sentencing errors. See Harvey v. State, 786 So. 2d 28 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001), review granted 797 So. 2d 585 (Fla.2001). In Harvey, we held “that no unpreserved sentencing errors will be entertained on appeal if the defendant had available to him the procedural mechanism of the most recent amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b).” Id. at 32. In the instant case, appellant failed to object to the imposition of the three-year minimum mandatory at the time of his sentencing or in his 3.800(b) motion, which addressed other sentencing matters. We therefore decline to review this issue on direct appeal.

AFFIRMED.

MINER, KAHN, and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Jimmie Lee Banks v. State, 941 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
    …ge did so. Now, appellant argues that the re-reading of the standard instruction was fundamental error. Any error was waived by counsel asking that the instruction be read. See Armstrong v. State, 579 So. 2d 734, 735 (Fla.1991); Singletary v. State, 829 So. 2d 978, 979 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). This request was consistent with the defense strategy and theory of the case which was not that the incident was an accident, but that no penetration at all occurred, as evidenced by counsel’s repeated statement in opening…

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