JOSE MORA, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Jose Mora appeals his second-degree murder conviction on grounds that the prosecutor made improper personal attacks on defense counsel during closing argument. The Florida appellate court affirmed the conviction despite finding the prosecutor's comments improper, holding the error harmless because the comments were isolated and the evidence of guilt was overwhelming.
Although the prosecutor's comments were improper and the trial court should have sustained timely objections and issued curative instructions, the error was harmless and did not require reversal because the comments were isolated rather than pervasive, and the evidence of guilt was overwhelming, leaving no reasonable probability the comments affected the verdict.
[1] A prosecutor's closing argument is improper when it characterizes the trial as a "circus" or disparages defense counsel as misrepresenting or fabricating facts.
[2] Improper prosecutorial comments during closing argument warrant sustaining objections and providing curative instructions to the jury.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Verbal attacks on the personal integrity of opposing counsel are inconsistent with the prosecutor's role and are unprofessional.”
Establishes the professional standard that prosecutors must meet and the impropriety of the prosecutor's conduct in this case.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMora was convicted of second-degree murder. The victim suffered seven entrance gunshot wounds from a few feet away. Mora owned and used pistols and di…
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Jose Mora appeals his conviction and sentence for second-degree murder. In affirming, we address a single issue raised by the appellant regarding the prosecutor’s allegedly-improper closing argument. In this case, the prosecutor told the jury, at separate points in her closing argument, “[t]his trial has been a circus of a parade of incidents,” that the jury should rely on what the witnesses said, not what defense counsel told them, “because she [defense counsel] misrepresented the facts,” and that the defense case of self-defense was “just a theory” and “something that has been fabricated.”
These comments were indeed improper. The timely objections by the defense should have been sustained. Each such comment warranted a curative instruction and, in the discretion of the trial judge, a sidebar and warning to the prosecutor. A trial is not a “circus.”1 Defense counsel was not intentionally misrepresenting facts or “fabricating” them.2 The Rules Regulating the Florida Bar, local codes of professionalism, and the reported decisions of all six state appellate courts in Florida demand a higher standard. “Verbal attacks on the personal integrity of opposing counsel are inconsistent with the prosecutor’s role and are unprofessional.” Merck v. State, 975 So.2d 1054, 1070 (Fla. 2007).
This is not a new problem. See, e.g., Jackson v. State, 421 So.2d 15 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). Although the State Attorney’s Office prosecutes these cases, the regional office of the Attorney General of Florida is required to handle any resulting appeals. One imagines that improper argument of this kind might diminish if the prosecutor who created the issue at trial was required to research and write the appellee’s brief, and then argue the appeal here. In-service trainings between the two offices might also mitigate the problem.3
*310Turning to the present case, only two facts save the State from a reversal. First, the comments were isolated and not “pervasive.” See, e.g., Cardona v. State, 185 So.3d 514, 516 (Fla. 2016). Second, the evidence of guilt was overwhelming. The medical examiner testified that the victim suffered seven entrance gunshot wounds, in the front, side, and back, consistent with being shot from a few feet away. The defendant owned and used both pistols and did not deny that in his own testimony. Eyewitnesses and other evidence did not corroborate the defendant’s claim of self-defense regarding the actual incident. On this record “there is no reasonable probability that the improper comments affected the verdict,” with the result that “such error is harmless and does not require reversal.” Braddy v. State, 111 So.3d 810, 837 (Fla. 2012) (citing Hitchcock v. State, 755 So.2d 638, 643 (Fla. 2000)).
The remaining issues raised by the appellant do not merit further analysis. Affirmed.
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Sampson v. State, 213 So. 3d 1090 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)…o be grounds for appropriate disciplinary proceedings. It ill becomes those who represent the state in the application of its lawful penalties to themselves ignore the precepts of their profession and their office”); Mora v. State, No. 3D15-1434 *1, 211 So. 3d 308, 2017 WL 608287 (Fla. 3d DCA Feb. 15, 2017);4 Bell v. State, 723 So. 2d 896 (Fla. 2d DCA1998) (observing: “We continue to be concerned when trial counsel make improper arguments to a jury. At times it seems as if certain counsel consider the harmles…
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Charles v. State, 204 So. 3d 1257 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)…the prosecutor affected the verdict, and therefore any “such error is harmless and does not require reversal.” Braddy v. State, 111 So. 3d 810, 837 (Fla. 2012) (citing Hitchcock v. State, 755 So. 2d 638, 643 (Fla. 2000)). See also Mora v. State, 211 So. 3d 308, 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (holding that reversal was not required because the prosecutor’s improper “comments were isolated and not pervasive” and the “evidence of guilt was overwhelming”) (internal quotation omitted). Based on the foregoing, we c…
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Scala v. State, 213 So. 3d 1085 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017)…rguments to the jury. See, e.g., Kaczmar v. State, No. SC13-2247 at *7, — So. 3d -, 2017 WL 410214 (Fla. January 31, 2017); Sampson v. State, No, 3D15-1662, 213 So. 3d 1090, 2017 WL 1018514 (Fla. 3d DCA March 15, 2017); Mora v. State, No. 3D15-1434, 211 So. 3d 308, 2017 WL 608287 (Fla. 3d DCA Feb. 15, 2017); Burger King Corp. v. Lastre-Torres, 202 So. 3d 872 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016); City of Miami v. Kinser, 187 So. 3d 921 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016); Constant v. State, 139 So. 3d 479 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014); Jennings v. State,…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Ruiz v. State, 743 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1999)
- Merck v. State, 975 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 2007)
- Harrel Franklin Braddy v. State, 111 So. 3d 810 (Fla. 2012)
- Jackson v. State, 421 So. 2d 15 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
- Cardona v. State, 185 So. 3d 514 (Fla. 2016)
- Hitchcock v. State, 755 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 2000)