ORLANDO CHARRIEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2012-09-07
No. 5D11-744
PALMER, J., concurs., EVANDER, J., dissents, with opinion.
96 So. 3d 1127 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2012) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

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Synopsis

Orlando Charriez appeals his conviction for lewd or lascivious battery and sexual activity with a minor. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal reverses and remands for a new trial, finding that the cumulative effect of improper prosecutorial comments during closing argument denied Charriez a fair trial, despite upholding the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal.


Holding

The trial court did not err in denying the motion for judgment of acquittal, as sufficient evidence supported the conviction. However, the cumulative effect of the prosecutor's improper comments during closing argument—including references to facts not in evidence, misstatement of the reasonable doubt standard, and appeals to community conscience—denied Charriez a fair trial, warranting reversal and remand for a new trial.


Headnotes

[1] A prosecutor's improper comments during closing argument, even if not individually objected to or rising to the level of fundamental error, can cumulatively deny a defend…

[2] A prosecutor may not make references to facts not in evidence during closing argument.

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Key Quotes

“The test for reasonable doubt is not which side is more believable, but whether, taking all the evidence in the case into consideration, guilt as to every essential element of the charge has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.”

Establishes the correct legal standard for reasonable doubt that the prosecutor misrepresented by suggesting that if jurors believed the victim, they must convict.

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Facts & Procedural History

Charriez was accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor living at the same apartment complex. Charriez denied the accusations and never conf…

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Opinion of the Court
JACOBUS, J.

JACOBUS, J.

Orlando Charriez appeals the judgment and sentence entered after a jury returned a verdict finding him guilty of one count of lewd or lascivious battery and four counts of sexual activity with a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old child. On appeal, Charriez contends the trial court: (1) erred in failing to grant his motion for mistrial based upon improper comments made by the State during closing argument; and (2) erred in failing to grant his motion for judgment of acquittal based upon the State’s failure to present evidence excluding every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. While we find no error in the trial court’s denial of Charriez’s motion for judgment of acquittal, we do find merit to Charriez’s claim that the cumulative effect of the improper comments made by the prosecutor during closing argument denied him a fair trial. Therefore, we reverse his judgment and sentence and remand the case for a new trial.

Charriez’s charges stem from accusations that he had a sexual relationship with a minor who resided at the same apartment complex as Charriez. When he was confronted with these accusations, Char-riez vehemently denied any sexual conduct with the victim and he never confessed or in any way indicated that he had a sexual relationship with her. At trial, there was no forensic evidence that would indicate any sexual conduct took place, and the State’s case was based upon the testimony of the victim.

During closing argument, the prosecutor made a number of improper comments. First, she made several references to facts not in evidence when she: (1) emphasized the importance of enforcing the laws Charriez was charged with violating in order to protect fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-year-old children who do not have the ability to understand the consequences of their actions; (2) suggested that the reason the victim had changed her story was that she was nineteen years old at the time of trial and she might have had a different perspective on things than when she was fifteen; and (3) speculated that the reason no forensic evidence was found in the victim’s apartment was that she and Charriez probably had more sex at his apartment. Next, the prosecutor misstated the law as it relates to reasonable doubt when she suggested that if the jurors believed the victim, they would have to convict Charriez. See Clewis v. State, 605 So.2d 974, 975 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992) (“The test for reasonable doubt is not which side is more believable, but whether, taking all the evidence in the case into consideration, guilt as to every essential element of the charge has been proven beyond reasonable doubt.” (citing United States v. Stanfield, 521 F.2d 1122, 1125 (9th Cir.1975))). Finally, the prosecutor made an improper appeal to the jurors’ community conscience by suggesting that they had a communal duty to convict Char-riez in order to protect the community. Although Charriez’s defense counsel did not object to each of these comments and they may not individually rise to the level of fundamental error, their cumulative effect denied Charriez a fair trial. See Slagle v. State, 58 So.3d 427 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011) (cumulative effect of prosecutor’s errors denied Slagle a fair trial); Freeman v. State, 717 So.2d 105 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (finding that the cumulative effect of prosecutor’s errors, which included improper bolstering of police witnesses, impermissible burden shifting, and improper references to the facts not in evidence, required a new trial). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

*1129REVERSED and REMANDED for New Trial.

PALMER, J., concurs.

EVANDER, J., dissents, with opinion.

EVANDER, J.,

dissenting.

Because I do not believe that the cumulative effect of any improper arguments by the prosecutor denied Charriez a fair trial, I respectfully dissent. Furthermore, I believe that some of the prosecutor’s comments (e.g., that fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-year-old children sometimes lack the ability to understand the consequences of their actions and that the alleged victim might perceive things differently at age nineteen than she did at age fifteen) permissibly suggested inferences that could properly be drawn from the evidence.

Dissent
EVANDER, J.,

EVANDER, J.,

dissenting.

Because I do not believe that the cumulative effect of any improper arguments by the prosecutor denied Charriez a fair trial, I respectfully dissent. Furthermore, I believe that some of the prosecutor’s comments (e.g., that fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-year-old children sometimes lack the ability to understand the consequences of their actions and that the alleged victim might perceive things differently at age nineteen than she did at age fifteen) permissibly suggested inferences that could properly be drawn from the evidence.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Evans v. State, 177 So. 3d 1219 (Fla. 2015)
    …Reading the instruction on manslaughter, you will find that the evidence in this case goes way beyond manslaughter. It is error for a prosecutor to misstate the law during closing arguments. See, e.g., Brooks, 762 So. 2d at 902; Charriez v. State, 96 So. 3d 1127, 1127 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012). In Johnson v. State, 969 So. 2d 938, 952 (Fla.2007), this Court addressed “heat of passion” and explained: The jury could have concluded from this evidence that Johnson acted not from premeditation but from a depraved min…
  • Brinson v. State, 153 So. 3d 972 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)
    …utor remarked that Graham had never been convicted' of a felony. Brinson’s objection to this statement was properly sustained because there were no facts in evidence suggesting that Graham had never been convicted of a felony. See Charriez v. State, 96 So. 3d 1127, 1128 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) (stating that it is improper for a prosecutor to refer to facts not in evidence). The prosecutor’s statements also constituted improper bolstering. See Hutchinson v. State, 882 So. 2d 943, 953 (Fla.2004) (“Improper bolsteri…
  • Talley v. State, 260 So. 3d 562 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)

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