556 So. 2d 808 - Randolph v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Since there seems to be agreement that the location of the recovery of the purse was not proven after the prosecutor indicated the location in his opening statement, is this omission or perhaps misstatement enough to cause a mistrial? A broader way of stating the issue is whether the State must prove every assertion in an opening statement or face a mistrial if the prosecutor overlooks proving the assertion through the introduction of evidence during the State’s case. A review of the record in this case requires a negative answer. The trial court gave the following cautionary instruction which addressed the problem without drawing the jury’s attention to the specific statements: While they’re approaching the bench, ladies and gentlemen, also let me remind you that what the attorneys said during their opening statements and their closing arguments was not evidence. If they have said something that you don’t recall, rely upon your collective memory to determine what the evidence presented was because they do their best to take notes; but they have to listen, take notes, and plan their own trial portion. So sometimes they may not hear things that were said or may think they heard things that were not said. So you rely upon your own collective memory in determining what the facts were. A mistrial is appropriate only when the error is so prejudicial as to vitiate the entire trial. Duest v. State, 462 So.2d 446 (Fla.1985). When there is no reasonable possibility that the error cont”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 590 So. 2d 1125 - Haws v. State