Summary
In Rodriguez v. State, 493 So.2d 1067 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), we held that a similar misstatement of the law was "unquestionably erroneous."
Summary of this case from Clewis v. StateOpinion
No. 85-2562.
September 2, 1986. Rehearing Denied October 1, 1986.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, Richard V. Margolius, J.
Jon W. Burke, Miami, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Lisa A. Rosenthal and Margarita M. Febres, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and DANIEL S. PEARSON and JORGENSON, JJ.
We reject the defendant's contention that he was entitled to the entry of a judgment of acquittal on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his first-degree murder conviction. We also reject his alternative contention that the prosecutor's misstatement of the law during closing argument — "If you believe [the defendant's story] is not credible and if you believe he took the stand and didn't tell the truth, he is guilty of first degree murder" — could only be remedied by the grant of the defendant's request for a mistrial. We conclude instead that the harm of the unquestionably erroneous remark was capable of being cured by an instruction to the jury, and although the instruction given — namely, to disregard the remark — is arguably less than adequate, if the defendant was dissatisfied with the instruction, it was his burden to request a more adequate one.
Affirmed.