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544 So. 2d 1114

Docket No. 88-2870.

Williams v. State

Gregory WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.

District Court of Appeal of Florida · decided 1989-06-13

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently August 2000

2 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“state's single reference during closing argument to the tears of the [murder] victim's parents was an improper appeal to the sympathy of the jury”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 689 So. 2d 393 - Williams v. State

Relies on 542 So. 2d 1330 - In re Amendment to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191 · 465 So. 2d 1384 - State v. Isaac · Erwin v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1989-06-13

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Robert Kalter, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.

¶2Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Richard L. Polin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

¶3Before BARKDULL, JORGENSON and GERSTEN, JJ.

¶4*1115 PER CURIAM.

¶5Gregory Williams appeals a judgment of conviction for second degree murder. He contends that his confession to the police, given while he was in the hospital recovering from surgery for self-inflicted wounds, cannot be characterized as free and voluntary and should have been suppressed by the trial court. We disagree.

¶6The order on Williams's motion to suppress his statements details the circumstances surrounding the confession and reflects ample evidentiary support for the trial court's conclusion that Williams knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights. State v. Isaac,465 So.2d 1384 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). While the state's single reference during closing argument to the tears of the victim's parents was an improper appeal to the sympathy of the jury, Macias v. State,447 So.2d 1020 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984), the isolated comment does not rise to the level of reversible error. See Erwin v. State,532 So.2d 724 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988), rev. denied,542 So.2d 1333 (Fla. 1989).

¶7Affirmed.

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