Opinion ID: 1727479
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: judge's comment to prospective jurors

Text: Randall argues that the trial judge committed fundamental error by commenting to prospective jurors at the beginning of voir dire as to the existence of State witnesses who probably would not be called to testify. The judge's complained-of statement was as follows: And, ladies and gentlemen, at this time I'm going to ask one of the Assistant State Attorneys to read you a rather comprehensive list. This is a list of of any person, presumably, who may have any knowledge, no matter how small, about the case. I will tell you now, as this list is very long, that you will not be hearing from all these people. It will be the State's job to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, if they can, and they will call whatever amount of witnesses they feel is appropriate to do that. Whether they have met their burden of proof, of course, is for the jury to decide. They won't parade in five witnesses to repeat what one witness can tell you. (Emphasis added.) Randall concedes that the defense lodged no contemporaneous objection or request for relief, but contends that fundamental error occurred because the judge's comment to prospective jurors was capable of destroying their ability to decide the case fairly upon the evidence presented in court. In support of his argument, Randall cites cases in which a trial judge's comments have been found on appeal to have constituted fundamental error. Whitfield v. State, 452 So.2d 548, 549 (Fla.1984) (trial judge impermissibly evaluated evidence by instructing jury that defendant's refusal to submit to fingerprinting was circumstance from which consciousness of guilt could be inferred); Hamilton v. State, 109 So.2d 422, 424-25 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959) (trial judge's unintentional remarks before jury were of such character as to indicate court's opinion that defendant was guilty of murder). Randall also cites cases in which courts have found that comments by prosecutors as to uncalled corroborating witnesses were improper and prejudicial and necessitated reversal for a new trial. See Hazelwood v. State, 658 So.2d 1241, 1244 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Tillman v. State, 647 So.2d 1015, 1016 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Thompson v. State, 318 So.2d 549, 551 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). For an error to be so fundamental that it can be raised for the first time on appeal, the error must be basic to the judicial decision under review and equivalent to a denial of due process. See State v. Johnson, 616 So.2d 1, 3 (Fla.1993). In cases in which courts have found judges' or prosecutors' comments to be fundamental error, the improper comments were made in the presence of the jury during the presentation of evidence or arguments. Whitfield; Hamilton; Hazlewood; Tillman. In this case, however, the judge made the complained-of comment prior to voir dire and in the context of describing trial procedure to prospective jurors. See Harmon v. State, 527 So.2d 182, 186-87 (Fla.1988). The record reflects that the judge's comment was a general statement as to the presentation of State witnesses and did not reflect the specific situation as to witnesses in Randall's trial or convey to the jury the impression that in fact the State had a large array of witnesses who could testify against Randall. Our review of the record also demonstrates that subsequently throughout the trial the judge repeatedly instructed the jury to consider only the evidence presented at trial. We find, under the circumstances of this case, that this comment does not constitute fundamental error when considered in context of the entire trial.