CECIL MACK THOMAS, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Cecil Mack Thomas was convicted by jury of assault with intent to commit murder after shooting Freddy Smart twice. On appeal, Thomas challenged the admission of testimony regarding alleged statements pressuring a witness to change her testimony and his denied waiver of jury trial, but the appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding the testimony error harmless and the jury trial requirement constitutionally sound.
The court held that while it was error to refuse to strike the inculpatory testimony given the prosecutor's failure to comply with discovery rules, the error was harmless in light of overwhelming evidence of guilt. The court also held that denying the jury trial waiver was proper because neither the federal nor Florida Constitution confers a right to bench trial—only a right to an impartial jury trial—and such waiver requires the prosecutor's consent under Florida Rule 3.260.
[1] A prosecutor's failure to disclose an oral statement of the accused, despite a timely discovery demand, constitutes error when the trial court fails to inquire into the n…
[2] An error in admitting testimony regarding an undisclosed inculpatory statement is harmless when overwhelming evidence of guilt exists.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“the prosecutor shall disclose to defense counsel the substance of any oral statements made by the accused and known to the prosecutor, together with the name and address of each witness to the statement”
Establishes the discovery obligation violated by the State under Rule 3.220
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThomas shot Freddy Smart in the back twice while Smart was carrying Jo Ann Myers on his shoulders near her apartment. Thomas had been dating Myers for…
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PER CURIAM.
Cecil Mack Thomas was charged by information with assault with intent to commit murder. He was tried by jury, found guilty and sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary.
Briefly stated, the facts are that Thomas shot Freddy Smart in the back twice while Smart was carrying Jo Ann Myers on his shoulders near her apartment. The evidence showed that Smart had been keeping company with Jo Ann Myers for several years. Cecil Mack Thomas, the defendant, had been dating her for a few weeks. During the trial, Jo Ann Myers testified over defense counsel’s objection that Thomas tried to persuade her to change her testimony :
“A. What was the conversation between me and him? I said he wanted me to change my testimony.
Q. To what?
A. To what he wanted me to say.
Q. What was that?
A. That he didn’t do the shooting or in that manner. He didn’t want — well, I wasn’t supposed to testify to the truth. I was supposed to tell a lie.”
Defense counsel made a motion to strike this testimony which was denied.
Defendant Thomas relies on two grounds for reversal. The first is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to strike Jo Ann Myers’ testimony as to the alleged inculpatory statement, quoted above, where the defendant timely filed a written demand for discovery pursuant to Rule 3.220 RCrP, and the prosecutor failed to comply and disclose such statement and the court failed to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the non-compliance and failed to determine that no prejudice was caused thereby. Rule 3.220 provides in pertinent part that within IS days after written demand by the defendant, the prosecutor shall disclose to defense counsel the substance of any oral statements made by the accused and known to the prosecutor, together with the name and address of each witness to the statement. The rule further provides that the prosecutor is under a continuing duty to disclose. In our opinion, it was error for the court to refuse to strike the testimony as to the inculpatory statement. Viewing the record in its totality, however, considering the overwhelming evidence of guilt adduced from the eye-witnesses and the expert witnesses, the error was harmless and does not warrant reversal.
The second point on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to accept his waiver of trial by jury. We do not agree. Rule 3.260, RCrP, provides that a defendant may in writing waive a jury trial with the consent of the State. In this case, the State failed to consent. Therefore, the ruling of the trial court follows the rule. In Singer v. United States, 380 U.S. 24, 85 S.Ct. 783, 13 L.Ed.2d 630, it was held that the only constitutional right guaranteed to a defendant is to an “impartial trial by jury.” Neither the United States nor the Florida Constitution confers or recognizes the right of a defendant to have his case tried before a judge without a jury. Article III, § 2 and Amendment VI of the Constitution of the United States; Article I, § 22 of the Constitution of the State of Florida.
Accordingly, the judgment of conviction and sentence is affirmed.
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Citator
Cited By
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State of Fla. ex rel. Richard E. Gerstein v. The Honorable H. Paul Baker & the Honorable Herbert M. Klein, 339 So. 2d 271 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)…lorida R.Crim.P. 3.260, Waiver of Jury Trial, provides in toto: A defendant may in writing waive a jury trial with the consent of the State. [Emphasis added.] 34 Fla.Stat.Ann. 38 (1975). This rule was recently interpreted by us in Thomas v. State, 328 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), and we follow our holding in that decision, to-wit: the state must consent to a waiver of a jury trial sought by a defendant. We therefore order that the writ of prohibition sought by the relator be issued and made absolute.…
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ALI v. State, 352 So. 2d 546 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)…e the subject statement. Cf. Cooper v. State, 336 So. 2d 1133, 1137-39 (Fla.1976). Further, assuming the failure to exclude the statement was error, we find the error to be harmless in view of the overwhelming evidence of guilt. Cf. Thomas v. State, 328 So. 2d 545, 546 (Fla.3d DCA 1976). Affirmed. . Defendant testified at the trial and denied having registered at the hotel.…
Authorities Cited
- Singer v. United States, 380 U.S. 24 (U.S. 1965)