Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2011

Cruz v. State

Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided April 20, 2011 · Lagoa, Salter, Schwartz

59 So. 3d 322; 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 5556; 2011 WL 1485982 (Southern Reporter, Third Series)

Cases that cite this one

1 later published case cites this decision.

Herron v. State (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2012)

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Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

William Cruz appeals his conviction and sentence for attempted second degree murder. We reverse the conviction on each of two independently-sufficient grounds. First, the attempted voluntary manslaughter instruction, as given to the jury, violates the holding in State v. Montgomery, 39 So.3d 252 (Fla. 2010).

Second, we find that Cruz’s second demand to represent himself was unequivocally made, necessitating a Faretta1 hearing. Rodriguez v. State, 982 So.2d 1272 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). Because such a hearing was not conducted before the trial court denied Cruz’s demand, a reversal on this ground is also required.

Reversed and remanded.

. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975).

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