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609 So. 2d 765

Morales v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Decided December 8, 1992

District Court of Appeal of Florida · decided 1992-12-08

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently September 1993

1 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“a defendant offering no testimony in his or her own behalf, except the defendant's own, shall be entitled to the concluding argument before the jury.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 624 So. 2d 808 - Marin v. State

Relies on 491 So. 2d 1129 - State v. DiGuilio · 594 So. 2d 292 - Fenelon v. State · 92 So. 2d 819 - Birge v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1992-12-08

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

PER CURIAM.

¶1Appellants, Florencio Villa (Villa), and Myron Morales (Morales), appeal their convictions for burglary, grand theft, and resisting arrest. We affirm Morales’s conviction and reverse Villa’s conviction.

¶2Villa and Morales cite error in the trial court’s instructing the jury on flight. Although the flight instruction was error, Fenelon v. State, 594 So.2d 292 (Fla.1992), we find that the instruction was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence against appellants. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla.1986).

¶3We hold that the trial court reversibly erred in Villa’s case by deviating from Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.250. Rule 3.250 gives a defendant offering no testimony in his own behalf, except his own, the right to a concluding argument before the jury.

¶4Here, the trial court, over Villa’s objection, erroneously deemed classic and clear-cut cross-examination of a state witness as “beyond the scope of direct.” In doing so, *766the trial court stated that Villa was giving up his right to a concluding argument.

¶5The right of an accused who offers no testimony in his own behalf, except his own, to be entitled to the concluding argument before the jury, is a vested procedural right. Denial of this right under Rule 3.250 constitutes reversible error. Birge v. State, 92 So.2d 819 (Fla.1957); Raysor v. State, 272 So.2d 867 (Fla. 4th DCA1973). Erroneous denial of the right to the concluding argument before the jury cannot be deemed harmless error. Hart v. State, 526 So.2d 124 (Fla. 5th DCA1988).

¶6In spite of the overwhelming evidence against Villa, the trial court did not scrupulously follow a required rule of procedure. Finding no merit in Morales’s other points, we affirm appellant Morales’s conviction, and reverse appellant Villa’s conviction.

¶7Reversed and remanded for new trial.

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