KEVIN FRANKLIN HUGHES
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The conviction for first-degree murder is affirmed despite the prosecutor's improper closing argument.
[1] A prosecutor's closing argument that includes facts not admitted into evidence may constitute reversible error if not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“improper closing argument by the prosecutor in arguing facts not in evidence, which I do not deem as harmless beyond a reasonable doubt”
Justice Warner's dissent identifying the basis for reversal, citing Evans v. State standard for closing argument impropriety.
Kevin Franklin Hughes was convicted of first-degree murder for killing his wife. The case originated in the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial …
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Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Okeechobee County; Michael J. McNicholas, Judge; L.T. Case No. 2019- CF-000246.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Robert Porter, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lindsay A. Warner, Senior Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee. PER CURIAM.
Affirmed. GROSS and DAMOORGIAN, JJ., concur. WARNER, J., dissents with opinion. WARNER, J., dissenting.
In this appeal of appellant’s first-degree murder conviction for killing his wife, I would reverse for a new trial because of improper closing argument by the prosecutor in arguing facts not in evidence, which I do not deem as harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., Evans v. State, 177 So. 3d 1219 (Fla. 2015), receded from on other grounds by Johnson v. State, 252 So. 3d 1114, 1117–18 (Fla. 2018).
* * * Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Evans v. State, 177 So. 3d 1219 (Fla. 2015)
- Rico Johnson v. State, 252 So. 3d 1114 (Fla. 2018)