Summary
reversing a jury instruction all but identical to the one in Jones based on the Jones reasoning
Summary of this case from Cifuentes v. StateOpinion
No. 94-0197.
August 23, 1995.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Broward County; Marc Speiser, Judge.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender and Susan D. Cline, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Patricia Ann Ash, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.
This case is on all fours with our recent decision in Jones v. State, 656 So.2d 489 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), which thus controls the outcome here. In Jones, the court gave the all-but-identical preliminary jury instruction on reasonable doubt, without objection from the defense. We held in Jones that it was fundamental error to denigrate the reasonable doubt standard by informing the jury that it could convict on a lesser standard of proof.
Accordingly, as we did in Jones, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
REVERSED.
STONE, FARMER, and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.