2nd District Court of Appeal Rejects Defense Request for Juror Interview in Florida DUI Case

In the matter of State versus. Monserrate-Jacobs, the 5th District Court of Appeal held as follows:

The district court granted the State of Florida's petition for certiorari review of a post-trial juror interview. Defendant was charged with DUI-Manslaughter. The State of Florida presented evidence that blood samples that were taken from the defendant on the night in question reflected that he had a blood alcohol level of .178. The blood kit used, along with the vials of defendant's blood, were admitted into evidence. The defendant conjectured the blood draw must somehow have been contaminated either through defective outdated tubes and/or an expired blood kit. The jury asked to examine the blood draw kit during deliberations, in front of defendant's counsel; no objections were raised. Following a guilty verdict, the defendant filed a motion for juror interview, based upon his belief that a particular juror had observed an expiration date on the blood kit and informed the other jurors of her observations. The 2nd District Court of Appeal held that defendant's allegations were too speculative to allow a juror interview. The 2nd District Court of Appeal held defendant's did not allege facts that would support his supposition that a juror had somehow ascertained the expiration date for the blood kit, and defendant also didn't allege that there was, in fact, an expiration date visible on the kit.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com