Opinion ID: 1788253
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: cumulative error analysis

Text: We have determined that five errors of law occurred during the course of Brooks' retrial, including the erroneous admission of Madero's testimony regarding the child support record, the erroneous admission of the notes recovered from Davis's leg cast, the improper impeachment of Melissa Thomas, the trial court's failure to provide the coconspirator hearsay instruction as requested by defense counsel, and the erroneous reliance in sentencing on the aggravating factor that the murders were committed during the course of an act of aggravated child abuse. Having found multiple harmless errors we must consider whether even though there was competent substantial evidence to support a verdict. . . and even though each of the alleged errors, standing alone, could be considered harmless, the cumulative effect of such errors was such as to deny to defendant the fair and impartial trial that is the inalienable right of all litigants in this state and this nation. Jackson v. State, 575 So.2d 181, 189 (Fla.1991) (quoting Seaboard Air Line R.R. Co. v. Ford, 92 So.2d 160, 165 (Fla.1956) (on rehearing)). Our decision in Jackson is particularly instructive in this regard. There, we determined that the trial court had committed multiple errors, including the admission of a portion of a state witness's testimony explaining that members of the defendant's family had threatened him, permitting the State to tell the jury to draw inferences from the failure of the defendant's mother to testify, and instructing the jury that they could infer consciousness of guilt from flight. See id. at 187-88. We determined that the cumulative effect of those errors did not warrant reversal of the defendant's conviction because (1) none of the errors were fundamental; (2) none went to the heart of the state's case; and (3) the jury would have still heard substantial evidence in support of the defendant's guilt. See id. at 189. Thus this Court concluded, Considering the weight of the errors and the magnitude of the totality of the evidence against Jackson, we find there is no reasonable possibility that these three errors contributed to the conviction. Id. The errors committed in the instant case are of like kind and quality to those committed in Jackson. As in that case, we determine that none of the errors committed were fundamental, none went to the heart of the State's case, and, as outlined in the analysis of the admissibility of Madero's testimony, the jury would have still heard extensive and substantial evidence in support of Brooks' guilt. On the basis of the record before us, we determine that there is no reasonable possibility that the cumulative effect of the errors in this case contributed to Brooks' conviction.