Case Name: Phillip Thomas HICKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1982-12-22
Citations: 424 So. 2d 758
Docket Number: No. 62079
Parties: Phillip Thomas HICKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
Judges: ADKINS, Acting C.J., and BOYD, OVERTON, McDonald and EHRLICH, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 424
Pages: 758–759

Head Matter:
Phillip Thomas HICKS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
No. 62079.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Dec. 22, 1982.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender and Tatjana Ostapoff, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for petitioner.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Andrea T. Mohel, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4), Florida Constitution, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, in Hicks v. State, 411 So.2d 1040 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), certified the following question as having great public importance:
May the harmless, error rule be applied where the only penalty instruction requested is for the main offense charged and the defendant is subsequently convicted of a lesser included offense?
We answer the question in the affirmative, on the basis of Lewis v. State, 419 So.2d 337 (Fla.1982), and approve the decision of the district court.
It is so ordered.
ADKINS, Acting C.J., and BOYD, OVERTON, McDonald and EHRLICH, JJ., concur.