TRANQUILINO GONZALES
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A trial court does not commit fundamental error by declining to instruct the jury on possible sentences in non-capital cases and by using a six-person jury in sexual battery prosecutions.
[1] In non-capital criminal cases, a trial court does not commit error by declining to instruct the jury on the possible sentences that may be imposed upon conviction, as suc…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Except in capital cases, the judge shall not instruct the jury on the sentence that may be imposed for the offense for which the accused is on trial.”
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.390(a), cited by the court in support of the trial court's refusal to answer the jury's sentencing question.
Tranquilino Gonzales was convicted of sexual battery with penetration by a six-person jury. During trial, the jury asked about the defendant's possibl…
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DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT
TRANQUILINO GONZALES, Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.
No. 4D2025-2161
[August 26, 2026]
Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Daliah Handel Weiss, Judge; L.T. Case No. 502021CF009132AXXXMB.
Daniel Eisinger, Public Defender, and Gary Lee Caldwell, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Mary Elizabeth Johnson, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
GERBER, C.J.
The defendant appeals from his conviction and sentence for sexual battery with penetration after a six-person jury trial. The defendant argues the circuit court fundamentally erred in two respects by: (1) declining to answer the jury's question regarding the defendant's possible sentence if convicted; and (2) not providing the defendant with a twelve-person jury.
On the first argument, we affirm. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.390(a) (“Except in capital cases, the judge shall not instruct the jury on the sentence that may be imposed for the offense for which the accused is on trial.”; Knight v. State, 668 So. 2d 596, 597 (Fla. 1996) (“We have construed [rule 3.390(a)] to mean that as to offenses in which the jury plays no role in sentencing, the jury will not be advised of the possible penalties.").
On the second argument, we affirm. See Guzman v. State, 350 So. 3d 72 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022), rev. denied, No. SC22-1597, 2023 WL 3830251 (Fla. June 6, 2023); Cunningham v. Florida, 144 S. Ct. 1287 (2024) (denying petition for writ of certiorari challenging Florida's use of sixmember juries). But see Kian v. State, 421 So. 3d 439 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025), cert. granted, No. SC25-6623, 2026 WL 1718018 (June 15, 2026).
Affirmed.
MAY and SHAW, JJ., concur.
* * *
Not final until disposition of timely-filed motion for rehearing.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Guzman v. State, 350 So. 3d 72 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022)
- Knight v. State, 668 So. 2d 596 (Fla. 1996)
- Hamed Kian v. State, 421 So. 3d 439 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025)