Spicer v. State
Spicer v. State
Opinion of the Court
Michael Spicer appeals from his aggravated battery conviction and fifteen-year prison sentence entered following a jury’s verdict of guilty on the charge. Finding ineffective assistance of counsel apparent on the face of the record, we reverse for a new trial. See, e.g., Bruno v. State, 807 So.2d 55, 63 n. 14 (Fla. 2001) (“A claim of ineffectiveness can properly be raised on direct appeal only if the record on its face demonstrates ineffectiveness.”).
Spicer’s sole defense at trial was self-defense. He took the stand himself to testify that he punched the victim only in self-defense after the victim attacked him. Spicer’s counsel also called another eyewitness, Spicer’s girlfriend, who corroborated this defense. The law is clear that raising self-defense does not shift the burden of proof to the defendant. Rather, “[o]nce a defendant makes a prima facie showing of self-defense, the State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense.” Fields v. State, 988 So.2d 1185, 1188 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008) (citing Fowler v. State, 921 So.2d 708, 711 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)); see also Brown v. State, 454 So.2d 596, 598 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984) (‘While the defendant may have the burden of going forward with evidence of self-defense, the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt never shifts from the State, and this standard broadly includes the requirement that the State prove that the defendant did not act in self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.”) (citations omitted).
Spicer’s counsel was obviously unaware of the law on this point, and repeatedly explained to the jury in his closing argument that it was Spicer’s burden to prove self-defense. Compounding this mistake, Spicer’s lawyer proposed an old standard jury instruction which also erroneously stated that self-defense had to be “proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” This was the instruction read to the jury.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
. The erroneous instruction was replaced nine months prior to Spicer's trial by an amended version which struck the offending language. See In re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases (No. 2006-3), 947 So.2d 1159 (Fla. 2007). As explained in Fields, the old instruction also contained a correct statement regarding the burden of proof on this issue, but was defective because it required the jury to " 'choose between two contradictory standards!)]' ” one of which erroneously shifted the burden of proof to the defendant. Fields, 988 So.2d at 1189 (quoting Murray v. State, 937 So.2d 277, 280 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)). In Fields, we found fundamental error when this instruction was given without objection. Because it was Spicer's attorney who affirmatively requested the instruction in this case, however, we have not addressed the issue using a fundamental error analysis. See Caldwell v. State, 920 So.2d 727, 732 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) ("An instruc
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Michael SPICER v. STATE of Florida
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- 4 cases
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- Published