Case Name: Gregory WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1989-06-13
Citations: 544 So. 2d 1114
Docket Number: No. 88-2870
Parties: Gregory WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: Before BARKDULL, JORGENSON and GERSTEN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 544
Pages: 1114–1115

Head Matter:
Gregory WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 88-2870.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
June 13, 1989.
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Robert Kalter, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Richard L. Polin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for ap-pellee.
Before BARKDULL, JORGENSON and GERSTEN, JJ.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Gregory Williams appeals a judgment of conviction for second degree murder. He contends that his confession to the police, given while he was in the hospital recovering from surgery for self-inflicted wounds, cannot be characterized as free and voluntary and should have been suppressed by the trial court. We disagree.
The order on Williams's motion to suppress his statements details the circumstances surrounding the confession and reflects ample evidentiary support for the trial court's conclusion that Williams knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights. State v. Isaac, 465 So.2d 1384 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). While the state's single reference during closing argument to the tears of the victim's parents was an improper appeal to the sympathy of the jury, Macias v. State, 447 So.2d 1020 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984), the isolated comment does not rise to the level of reversible error. See Erwin v. State, 532 So.2d 724 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988), rev. denied, 542 So.2d 1333 (Fla.1989).
Affirmed.