Fla. Stat, (1981) - Florida State University College of Law

type of rebuke counsel received.
on defense OOwlsel, was also an inproper ccrlrment on the Credibility of the
witnesses.
This rebuke, in addition to thrming disfavor
Since the credibility of these "bribed" witnesses was the central
issue in the trial, the camxmts can hardly be considered to be harmless error.
Judicial amrents on the credibility of a witness for the defense are always
improper, and where itrelates to a critical issue, is reversible error.
Parise v. State, 320 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 4th D.C.A. 1975); Cooper v. Stab, 376
So. 2d 477 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. 1979); Wore v. ___L
State, 386 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 5th
D.C.A. 1980); m s , supra; cooper v. State, 413 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 1st D.C.A.
1982).
while castigating defense counsel. (T. 2253).
None of this would have occurred had the court not permitted the
See:
The prosecutor reminded the jury of this rebuke in his closiJlg m wt
prosecutors to explain in detail the nature of theis plea bargains with their
witnesses, to express their distaste for making deals, and to attarpt to justify
it in the eyes of the jury.
%is extensive questioning went far beyond the
simple inqu- to determine possible bias that was approved in - v. State,
418 So* 2d 989 (Fla. 1982). Here, the questioning was an attenpt tQ gain the
jq"s advance approval for the deals they had made, as v d l as an attempt to
get the venire to prejudge the credibility of the witnesses, by telling them
what the participation of each co-defendantwitness supposedly had been.
abuse of the voir dire process has been held to require reversal.
-
State, 253 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. 1971); and Hamon v. State, 394 So. 2d
121 (Fla. 1st D.C.A. 1980), where PIC. Greene was also the prosecutor.
Such
See Smith v.
The manner in which the voir dire was conducted in conjunction with
the irrpropr questioning by the prosecutor and improper remarks by the trial
judge, served to deprive the defendant of his right to a fair trial by an
impartial jury, and his right to the effective assistance of counsel. The
renvedy is a new trial.