Opinion ID: 148154
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Appellant's Appeals in Florida State Courts

Text: Appellant appealed his conviction to the Florida District Court of Appeal, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied him his Sixth Amendment right to cross-examine Junior to fully expose his biases or motives to be truthful. While failing to address Appellant's Sixth Amendment claim, the District Court of Appeal reasoned that the Notice of Revocation was more prejudicial than probative and that verdicts were generally inadmissible, and thus held that the trial court did not err in excluding the Notice of Revocation or the Elliot verdict. [2] The Florida District Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in finding the Notice of Revocation irrelevant, recognizing that the State's [Notice] could have forced Junior to believe it was in his best interest to testify consistently with his latest and most detailed version of events. R.E. Doc. 8 Ex. M at 16; see R.E. Doc. 8 Ex. M at 14. Nevertheless, the court affirmed the trial court's exclusion of the Notice, finding that the Notice's admission would necessitate admission of the trial court's quashing of the Notice and determined, under Fla. Stat. § 90.403, that the Notice's probative value did not outweigh the prejudice it would cause the State and, oddly, Appellant. [3] The court also affirmed on the grounds that the jury already knew that the State could revoke Junior's plea agreement if he did not testify truthfully and that Appellant had ample opportunity to cross-examine Junior on the details of his plea agreement. R.E. Doc. 8 Ex. M at 18. With respect to the Elliott verdict, the court merely affirmed the trial court, stating that [v]erdicts from other cases are generally inadmissible. [4] R.E. Doc. 8 Ex. M at 22 (citation omitted). In sum, the Florida District Court of Appeal provided only state law justifications for limiting Appellant's cross examination of Junior and did not address the constitutionality of the cross-examination restrictions. Appellant moved the District Court of Appeal for reconsideration, which it denied in another en banc per curiam opinion. R.E. Doc. 8 Ex. P ( Childers v. State, 936 So.2d 619 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2006) (en banc) (per curiam)). This opinion had five separate concurrences and dissents. On July 14, 2006, Appellant filed notice to invoke the discretionary jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court declined. Childers v. State, 939 So.2d 1057 (Fla.2006).