Correction, October 22, 2026: the Court corrected the opinion to say three aggravating factors, not four. In Rhodes v. State, No. SC2024-1099, decided July 2, 2026, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of postconviction relief to Richard Wallace Rhodes, who was sentenced to death for a 1984 murder, on four claims: Brady, Giglio, Massiah … Read more
The Third District Court of Appeal held on October 21, 2026, that any Confrontation Clause error in letting a supervisor summarize an absent nurse practitioner’s report was not fundamental error. The defendant did not object at trial, so he could raise the issue on appeal only as fundamental error, and the court found the testimony … Read more
A Florida judge can consider hearsay at a restitution hearing as long as the court “finds that the hearsay evidence has a minimal indicia of reliability.” The Sixth District Court of Appeal applied that rule on October 16, 2026, in Dacosta v. State, No. 6D2025-1329, and refused to accept the State’s own concession that the … Read more
Read the opinion (PDF): Download the opinion (PDF) Florida’s required “Sexual Predator” designation on a driver license does not compel speech, the Fifth District Court of Appeal held in an en banc decision, Crist v. State, 419 So. 3d 183 (Fla. 5th DCA 2025). On October 16, 2026, in State v. Gunter, No. 5D2025-1484, the … Read more
Read the opinion (PDF): Download the opinion (PDF) If a defendant clearly asks to represent himself at a violation hearing, the judge has to hold a Faretta hearing first. The Sixth District Court of Appeal said so on October 16, 2026, in Johnson v. State, No. 6D2024-2661, and reversed a twelve-year sentence for violating community … Read more
Read the opinion (PDF): Download the opinion (PDF) The First District Court of Appeal affirmed a habitual felony offender sentence on October 21, 2026, without deciding whether a jury must find the facts behind that label. The court said the defendant never preserved the point, and that even if he had, any error was harmless … Read more
Read the opinion (PDF): Download the opinion (PDF) A trial judge did not abuse his discretion by letting a developmentally disabled alleged victim testify while holding a teddy bear, the Second District Court of Appeal ruled on October 23, 2026, in Wilson v. State, No. 2D2025-0470. The same opinion turned down a request to overturn … Read more
A Broward circuit judge denied a wrongful-incarceration petition without following the procedures in section 961.03, Florida Statutes, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed on October 21, 2026. The case is Lindsey v. State, No. 4D2025-3395, decided on the State’s confession of error. The background. Herman Lindsey was charged in 2006 with first-degree murder … Read more
Due process does not require a certified interpreter when the State plays a jury the recording of a police interview conducted through an uncertified interpreter, if the trial judge finds enough safeguards that the translation is reliable. The court affirmed the conviction. The Fourth District Court of Appeal decided that on October 21, 2026, in … Read more
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of postconviction relief to a death-row prisoner on October 22, 2026, and in doing so it rejected a late claim built on a neurologist’s 2025 evaluation. In Craven v. State, Nos. SC2024-0251 and SC2024-1181, the Court held that a seizure disorder diagnosed decades earlier is not “newly discovered,” … Read more