Opinion ID: 1942962
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jury Instruction on Premeditation

Text: Coday argues that the trial court erred in giving the standard instruction on premeditation. The State counters that the issue was not preserved and that the giving of the instruction was proper. We find no error in giving the standard instruction. Claims not raised at trial are procedurally barred unless they present a question of fundamental error. See Mordenti v. State, 630 So.2d 1080 (Fla.1994). Issues pertaining to jury instructions are not preserved for appellate review unless a specific objection has been voiced at trial. Overton v. State, 801 So.2d 877, 901 (Fla. 2001); see also State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643, 644 (Fla.1991) (holding that instructions are subject to the contemporaneous objection rule, and, absent an objection at trial, can be raised on appeal only if fundamental error occurred). In the instant case, Coday filed a pretrial motion on July 10, 1998, objecting to the use of the standard premeditation instruction. However, he did not object to the use of the standard instruction on premeditation at either the charge conference on April 8, 2002, or after the trial court had given the standard instruction on premeditation to the jury on April 9, 2002. Hence, this issue is not preserved for appellate review. See Morrison v. State, 818 So.2d 432, 456 n. 16 (Fla.2002) (finding that the defense's pretrial objection to a jury instruction on the vulnerable victim statutory aggravator was not preserved for appellate review since defense counsel did not object to the instruction when it was given at trial); Patton v. State, 878 So.2d 368, 379 (Fla.2004) (finding that although the defense moved to suppress evidence before the trial, the objection was not preserved since the defense failed to object to the admission of the evidence at trial); Maharaj v. State, 597 So.2d 786, 790 (Fla.1992) (stating that admission of certain newspaper articles at trial was not preserved for appellate review where court denied defendant's pretrial motion in limine to exclude the articles and defendant failed to object when the articles were offered at trial). However, even if we were to entertain Coday's claim, it is clear that there was no error because the trial court gave the standard jury instruction on premeditation. See Kilgore, 688 So.2d at 898 (holding standard jury instructions are sufficient to explain premeditation); Goldschmidt, 571 So.2d at 425 (finding decisions regarding jury instructions are within the sound discretion of the trial court and should not be disturbed on appeal absent prejudicial error).