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Jones v. State

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT
Dec 31, 2020
308 So. 3d 1125 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2020)

Opinion

Case No. 5D19-2771

12-31-2020

Alex JONES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Steven N. Gosney, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and L. Charlene Matthews, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.


James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Steven N. Gosney, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and L. Charlene Matthews, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

EVANDER, C.J.

Alex Jones appeals the judgment and sentence entered after he was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm. He argues that certain comments made by the prosecutor during opening statement and closing argument constituted fundamental error. We agree that, in discussing Jones’ self-defense claim, it was clearly improper for the prosecutor to suggest to the jury that it should consider whether the victim "deserved to die" or "needed to die." However, after considering the totality of the record, we cannot conclude that the improper comments "reach[ed] down into the validity of the trial itself to the extent that a verdict of guilty could not have been obtained without the alleged error." Johnson v. State , 238 So. 3d 726, 740 (Fla. 2018) (quoting Kilgore v. State , 688 So. 2d 895, 898 (Fla. 1996) ).

AFFIRMED.

HARRIS and SASSO, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Jones v. State

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT
Dec 31, 2020
308 So. 3d 1125 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2020)
Case details for

Jones v. State

Case Details

Full title:ALEX JONES, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.

Court:DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT

Date published: Dec 31, 2020

Citations

308 So. 3d 1125 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2020)