Opinion ID: 1757917
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: entreaty to convict if jury disbelieved gore

Text: In addition to the improprieties concerning collateral crime evidence, the prosecutor twice exhorted the jurors during closing argument to convict Gore if they disbelieved his testimony: You see, when I started with you I told you I have the burden of proof and I always have the burden of proof. But you see, now you consider all the evidence presented to you and decide whether I met not just the evidence I presented, but the evidence they presented, you see, because I'll make it really simple for you: If you believe he did not tell you the truth, that he made up a story, that's it, he's guilty of First Degree Murder  .... You know, instead of standing up here for the next however much time I have left, 25 minutes, and just talking about ridiculous statements which I don't want to anymore, okay, we've all listened to everything, I can't, I can't give you anything else that you haven't heard. I can't make this anymore simpler than it is, because that's what it is. It's simple and it comes down to this in simplicity: If you believe his story, he's not guilty. If you believe he's lying to you, he's guilty. It's that simple. Defense counsel timely objected to these arguments, but each time his objections were overruled. This was error. While wide latitude is permitted in closing argument, see Breedlove v. State, 413 So.2d 1, 8 (Fla.1982), this latitude does not extend to permit improper argument. Here, the prosecutor's closing argument enunciated an erroneous and misleading statement of the State's burden of proof because it improperly asked the jury to determine whether Gore was lying as the sole test for determining the issue of his guilt. The standard for a criminal conviction is not which side is more believable, but whether, taking all the evidence into consideration, the State has proven every essential element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. For that reason, it is error for a prosecutor to make statements that shift the burden of proof and invite the jury to convict the defendant for some reason other than that the State has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. See Northard v. State, 675 So.2d 652, 653 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 680 So.2d 424 (Fla.1996); Clewis v. State, 605 So.2d 974, 974 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Bass v. State, 547 So.2d 680, 682 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). Here, the prosecutor's statement, [i]f you believe he's lying to you, he's guilty, was nothing more than an exhortation to the jury to convict Gore if it found he did not tell the truth. Thus, it was a clearly impermissible argument. See Bass, 547 So.2d at 682; cf. Craig v. State, 510 So.2d 857, 865 (Fla.1987).