McKinnon v. State
The Third DCA reversed a conviction for resisting an officer without violence, holding both that the State failed to file any valid charging document (indictment, information, or notice to appear), depriving the trial court of subject-matter jurisdiction, and that the trial court committed fundamental error by conducting a bench trial despite the defendant's express jury trial demand. The court extended its recent decision in Jean-Charles v. State to hold that proceeding to a bench trial over an express jury demand, on a charge punishable by up to one year in jail, is fundamental error even more clearly than an invalid oral waiver without colloquy.
Key facts
- McKinnon was charged with resisting an officer without violence, a crime punishable by up to one year in jail.
- The trial court proceeded to a bench trial despite McKinnon's express demand for a jury trial, and no valid charging document (indictment, information, or notice to appear) was ever filed.
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Why it matters
This opinion extends the Third DCA's recent Jean-Charles decision beyond the 'invalid oral waiver' context to the arguably more common scenario of an express jury demand followed by a bench trial, confirming that such… — full analysis with a trial
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