How Experienced Attorneys Protect Your Rights in Criminal Trials

Florida is saturated with attorneys. But all attorneys are not created equal. If you or a loved one has been charged with a crime, you need an attorney who has the experience and knowledge to protect you at every stage of your case – from the time you are detained until the completion of trial.  While most criminal cases end in a plea agreement, some cases go to trial. If your attorney does not have trial experience, some of your appellate issues may be waived because they are not preserved at trial.  

 For example, in Richardson v. State of Fla., 49 Fla. L. Weekly 1808D (Fla. 5th DCA 2024), a defendant’s attorney failed to preserve the defendant’s appellate argument regarding the State’s use of preemptory challenges during jury selection. A peremptory challenge is a special type of challenge that each party in a trial is allowed to use to exclude a potential juror without giving any reason or explanation. However, if the opposing party believes that the peremptory challenge was used to discriminate against a juror based on their race, ethnicity, or sex, they can present a prima facie argument to challenge the peremptory challenge. Florida law requires a three-step process for a defendant to preserve objections to the use of preemptory challenges. When a party believes that the opposing party is striking jurors based on certain types of discrimination, it is the objecting party’s burden to affirmatively challenge and obtain adverse rulings on the race-neutrality and genuineness of the reason given by the proponent for the strike. In Richardson, the State used its peremptory challenges to strike two African American women from the pool of potential jurors. As required, defense counsel requested that the judge require the State to provide race-neutral reasons for the strikes. The State’s reasons were (1) one juror wore torn shorts and a hat to jury selection which suggested to the State that she may not take jury selection seriously and (2) the other juror lived near the crime scene and may have independent knowledge of the area. Defense counsel challenged whether the reasons were race neutral, also as required. But after the judge ruled the reasons were indeed race neutral, defense counsel failed to object on the basis that the reasons the State gave were pretextual, and it did not request that the judge make an inquiry or ruling on whether the race-neutral reasons were genuine – the third step of the 3-step process. 

 After the defendant was convicted, he filed an appeal alleging that the trial court erred in its rulings. However, the 5th DCA held that the defendant did not preserve his challenges for appellate review because he did not complete the third step of the three-step process.  

This is just one illustration of why having an experienced attorney is critical to ensure your rights are protected at every stage of a criminal case. If you or a loved one is facing criminal charges, please contact our office so that one of our experienced attorneys can fight to protect your rights. At Fighter Law, we fight because we care! 

Attorney Bridgette Williams

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