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Bautista v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Feb 6, 1990
557 So. 2d 104 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990)

Opinion

No. 89-847.

February 6, 1990.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, Margarita Esquiroz, J.

Friend, Fleck Gettis, South Miami, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Hollywood, and Charles M. Fahlbusch, Miami, for appellee.

Before HUBBART, COPE and GODERICH, JJ.


Defendant seeks review of his conviction for one count of armed kidnapping and one count of unarmed kidnapping.

Appellant argues that the trial judge committed reversible error by communicating with the jury during the deliberation process outside the presence of Appellant and his counsel even though Appellant's counsel subsequently concurred in such communication.

Any such communication was non-prejudicial since defense counsel subsequently concurred in same. Moreover, such communication was not in response to a jury request for reinstruction under rule 3.410, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, but merely was a repetition of earlier admonitions that the jury not deliberate outside the jury room. See McGriff v. State, 553 So.2d 232 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) wherein a similar juror communication was deemed non-prejudicial where it was subsequently concurred in by counsel and pertained only to housekeeping or administrative matters.

Appellant also challenges the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal. His argument in essence goes to the credibility of a defense witness who identified the defendant. The matter was properly left to the trier of fact to decide.

Affirmed.


Summaries of

Bautista v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Feb 6, 1990
557 So. 2d 104 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990)
Case details for

Bautista v. State

Case Details

Full title:SAMUEL BAUTISTA, APPELLANT, v. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Feb 6, 1990

Citations

557 So. 2d 104 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1990)