From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Shells v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
May 17, 1994
635 So. 2d 140 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)

Opinion

No. 93-1297.

April 13, 1994. Rehearing Denied May 17, 1994.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Broward County, E. Goldstein, J.

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Paul E. Petillo, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and William A. Spillias, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.


Appellant claims that his conviction and sentence should be reversed because of improper comments made by the prosecutor during voir dire, indicating that the role of both the prosecutor and defense attorney in voir dire was to pick jurors favorable to their respective clients. Although at first overruling defense objections, the trial court later determined that the objection was well taken. It gave additional instructions.

While the comments were definitely inappropriate, appellant has not shown prejudice as a result of the improper comments, as the jury was constantly reminded of its role as an impartial decision-maker. See United States v. Khoury, 901 F.2d 948 (11th Cir. 1990) and United States v. Tegzes, 715 F.2d 505 (11th Cir. 1983).

We therefore affirm.

WARNER, POLEN and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Shells v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
May 17, 1994
635 So. 2d 140 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)
Case details for

Shells v. State

Case Details

Full title:WILLIE SHELLS, APPELLANT, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: May 17, 1994

Citations

635 So. 2d 140 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)