Opinion ID: 1787540
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: jury instruction on prior violent felony aggravator

Text: Knight claims that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the prior violent felony aggravator. The State correctly notes that under Elledge v. State, 346 So.2d 998 (Fla.1977), and its progeny, previous violent felony convictions suffice for purposes of the prior violent felony aggravator so long as the convictions predate the sentencing, even when the crimes underlying the conviction occurred after the crime for which the defendant is being sentenced. Moreover, the State is also correct that even if the above analysis was inapplicable, any error would be harmless since each of the contemporaneous murders involved herein qualify as prior violent felony convictions, a rule of law recently reaffirmed by this Court. See Mahn v. State, 714 So.2d 391, 399 (Fla. 1998) (citing Windom v. State, 656 So.2d 432, 440 (Fla.1995)).