SHAWN WAYNE ELLIOT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the trial court's failure to specifically instruct the jury that the State bore the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was not justifiable or excusable homicide did not constitute fundamental error, as the instructions as a whole correctly conveyed the State's burden of proof.
[1] Failure to object to jury instructions at trial generally waives the issue for appellate review.
[2] Fundamental error in jury instructions occurs when an omission is pertinent or material to what the jury must consider to convict.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was convicted of second-degree murder. On appeal, he argued the trial court fundamentally erred by not specifically instructing the jury tha…
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The appellant, Shawn Wayne Elliot, appeals his judgment and sentence for second-degree murder. He argues on appeal that the trial court fundamentally *270erred by failing to specifically instruct the jury that the State had the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was not an act of justifiable or excusable homicide. We reject this argument for the reasons that follow and affirm.
The appellant was charged by indictment with the premeditated murder of Ira Dixon. The State’s theory was that the appellant, fueled by alcohol and drugs and the fact that Dixon was hitting on his girlfriend, intentionally shot and killed Dixon. The appellant’s only defense was that the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed or that he was the one who committed the crime.
The State provided the jury instructions and the defense had the opportunity to review and make any objections. Without objection, the trial court instructed the jury on first-degree murder as well as the lesser crimes of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The trial court also gave the jury the standard instructions on excusable and justifiable homicide and on burden of proof. The jury found the appellant guilty of the lesser-included offense of second-degree murder.
By not objecting to the jury instructions at trial, the appellant failed to preserve this issue for appellate review. See State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643, 644-45 6(Fla.1991). On appeal, the appellant argues the jury instructions constituted fundamental error. This Court reviews the issue of unpreserved fundamental error under the de novo standard. See Beckham v. State, 884 So.2d 969, 970 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).
Fundamental error is error which reaches “down into the validity of the trial itself to the extent that a verdict of guilty could not have been obtained without the assistance of the alleged error.” See Delva, 575 So.2d at 644-45 (quotation omitted). In the context of jury instructions, fundamental error occurs only when an omission is pertinent or material to what the jury must consider in order to convict. See Stewart v. State, 420 So.2d 862, 863 (Fla.1982).
The crux of the appellant’s fundamental error argument relies on the fact that the failure to instruct the jury on a disputed element of a charged offense constitutes fundamental error. See Reed v. State, 837 So.2d 366 (Fla.2002) (finding the failure to use correct definition of malice in standard jury instruction for aggravated child abuse was fundamental error, where the element of malice was disputed at trial). See also Delva, 575 So.2d at 644-45. However, the appellant’s reliance on Reed and Delva is misplaced because excusable and justifiable homicide are not elements of the offense at issue; rather, they have the effect of legally excusing the defendant from an act that would otherwise be a criminal offense. Furthermore, this Court recently found no error where the jury was not specifically instructed that the State had the burden to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Mosansky v. State, 33 So.3d 756, 758-59 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (holding that where a challenged jury instruction involves an affirmative defense, as opposed to an element of the crime, fundamental error only occurs where a jury instruction is so flawed as to deprive defendants claiming the defense of a fair trial).
In the instant case, the instructions read to the jury without objection included a direction that the State must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt as well as the instruction on justifiable or excusable homicide. The jury instructions explicitly stated the State had the burden of proving the crime and that the defendant did not *271have to prove anything. Thus, there was no reason for the jury to think a different standard applied to the instruction on justifiable or excusable homicide. As in Mo-sansky, “the instructions, taken as a whole, clearly, comprehensively, and correctly instructed the jury on the state’s burden of proof.” Id. See also Bolin v. State, 297 So.2d 317, 319 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974) (“A conviction will not be reversed because a particular jury instruction has not been given where, on the whole, the charges as given are clear, comprehensive, and correct.”).
Moreover, the appellant failed to demonstrate that he was deprived of a fair trial. The alleged error did not “permeate or saturate the trial with such basic invalidity” as is required to find fundamental error. See Brown v. State, 124 So.2d 481, 484 (Fla.1960).
Accordingly, we affirm the appellant’s judgment and sentence.
AFFIRMED.
THOMAS, ROBERTS, and MARSTILLER, JJ., concur.
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Smith v. State, 76 So. 3d 379 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)…rategies of counsel. See Garzon v. State, 939 So. 2d 278, 283 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006), approved, 980 So. 2d 1038 (Fla.2008); Prudent v. State, 974 So. 2d 1142, 1144 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). We review de novo a claim of fundamental error. See Elliot v. State, 49 So. 3d 269, 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). To the extent the trial court gave the Florida standard jury instructions on the justifiable use of non-deadly force, Appellant alleges only one error. Giving the “forcible felony” instruction — that “[t]he use of non-dead…
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Donte Terell Morgan v. State, 127 So. 3d 708 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013)…osed to an element of the crime, fundamental error only occurs when a jury instruction is so flawed as to deprive the defendant of [*715] a fair trial. Martinez, 981 So. 2d at 455. We review a claim of fundamental error de novo. See Elliot v. State, 49 So. 3d 269, 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). We consider the circumstances of each death separately to determine if, considering the totality of the circumstances, the instructional error was fundamental. We first consider Hamilton’s death. The witnesses did not obse…
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Sims v. State, 140 So. 3d 1000 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)…the instruction emphasized above effectively told the jury that Appellant was precluded from using any force in self-defense unless he was confronted with deadly force. We review this claim under the de novo standard of review. See Elliot v. State, 49 So. 3d 269, 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). It is well-settled that the “doctrine of fundamental error should be applied only in the rare cases where a jurisdictional error appears or where the [*1004] interests of justice present a compelling demand for its applica…
Previewing 3 of 25 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Ike Brown v. State, 124 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1960)
- Reed v. State, 837 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 2002)
- D'Angelo v. State, 575 So. 2d 643 (Fla. 1991)
- State v. Batraville Vincent Delva, 575 So. 2d 643 (Fla. 1991)
- Stewart v. State, 420 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 1982)
- Bolin v. State, 297 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Mosansky v. State, 33 So. 3d 756 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)
- Beckham v. State, 884 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)