 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Garcia v. State9/3/2003
reme court] recedes from the express holding"); see also Lee, 835 So. 2d at 1181 (noting that Delva and Scott "may conflict in this regard," but holding that Delva remains binding precedent); Davis v. State, 839 So. 2d 734, 735 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) ("We do not agree with appellant that there is a conflict between Scott and Delva because in Scott the error was preserved.").
Delva remains an authoritative and binding holding by the supreme court on the issue of fundamental error in the context of inadequate jury instructions on the elements of the crime charged against a defendant. We thus conclude that Scott is not relevant here but that Delva controls our disposition of this case and compels the conclusion that there was no fundamental error.
District courts have with varying results continued to apply Delva's distinction between the failure to instruct on an element that is disputed-which constitutes fundamental error-and the failure to instruct on an element that is not disputed-which does not constitute fundamental error. See Starling v. State, 842 So. 2d 992, 993 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (holding that failure to give guilty knowledge instruction was not fundamental error where " he only issue raised during trial was that [defendant] was not the person who sold the cocaine"); Davis, 839 So. 2d at 735 (holding that failure to give guilty knowledge instruction was not fundamental error in case where "the only position taken by the defendant was that he was not the person who sold the cocaine to the informant"); Ozell v. State, 837 So. 2d 559, 560 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (holding that there was no fundamental error in cocaine sale prosecution where the defense contended both that (1) "the police officers were mistaken in their identification of the defendant" and that (2) there was a reasonable doubt concerning the defendant's guilt because officers "could not actually see" object which the alleged perpetrator handed to individual who subsequently dropped a ziplock baggie containing cocaine); Lee, 835 So. 2d at 1177 (holding that failure to give guilty knowledge instruction was not fundamental error in drug possession case); Johnson v. State, 833 So. 2d 252, 253 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (holding that failure to give guilty knowledge instruction was fundamental error in case where defendant said "that he had no knowledge of the contents of the vehicle" in which illegal drugs were found, but where "both sides acknowledged that the issues were whether [the defendant] had control of the drugs and whether he had knowledge of the illegality of the substances"); Blunt, 831 So. 2d at 771 (holding that failure to give guilty knowledge instruction was fundamental error where defendant "denied knowledge of [the existence of a] pill bottle and the crack cocaine" it contained and prosecutor argued that defendant "knew what the substance was").
The recent decision in Goodman v. State, 839 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003), adopts a different view of Scott than the one we have adopted. Goodman cites Scott in support of its holding that failure to give a guilty knowledge instruction was fundamental error in a case where the defendant "denied knowledge that the cannabis was present," and thus "placed in dispute the essential element of knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance." Goodman, 839 So. 2d at 903. Goodman makes no reference to Delva. But, as we have discussed, Delva makes clear that-for purposes of determining whether there was fundamental error-a defendant's denial of knowledge of the presence or existence of drugs does not place knowledge of the illicit nature of the drugs in dispute. Our decision here is thus in direct conflict with the decision in Goodman, and we certify the conflict pursuant to articl
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Florida DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|