Opinion ID: 1843770
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: adoption of luce

Text: Although Luce is based on a federal evidentiary question, the policy reasons regarding preservation of error apply with equal force under our state system of appellate review. [5] At least five such policy reasons exist. See Luce, 105 S.Ct. at 463-64. First, appellate review is hindered unless there is a complete and concrete factual context. Second, any harm to the defendant is speculative. Third, as a corollary to the first two reasons, the reviewing court has no way of knowing whether the state would have, in fact, used the impeachment evidence even if the defendant had testified. Fourth, a reviewing court cannot assume that the adverse ruling was the reason the defendant decided not to testifythe decision to testify seldom turns on one factor. Lastly, any error regarding in limine rulings would result in automatic reversal, thus emasculating the doctrine of harmless error. On one hand the reviewing court would be unable to assess the harm; yet, the reviewing court could not label as harmless an error that presumptively kept the defendant from testifying. See id.; Parker, 563 So.2d at 1132. Turning to this case, not only did Raydo not testify, but there is no indication in the record as to what his testimony would have been. There is no way to assess whether Raydo's failure to testify was actually harmful to his case. As stated in Parker, a reviewing court should be able to determine the impact of any erroneous impeachment in the light of a complete and concrete factual context. 563 So.2d at 1132. Also, although defense counsel announced after the adverse ruling that his client would not take the stand, we do not know whether the court's adverse ruling was the sole reason that defendant did not testify. Finally, although the State had sought a preliminary ruling, the State might not have elected to use an arguably inadmissible nolo contendere plea to impeach Raydo. This is a distinct possibility here because the colloquy between the trial court and the attorneys reveals doubt about the precise form the impeachment question should take. For all the policy reasons governing principles of appellate review, we adopt the reasoning of Luce. In this case, Raydo failed to preserve his claim of improper impeachment pursuant to section 90.610(1) when he did not testify and when the impeachment evidence was never introduced.