McMath v. State
The First DCA addressed, as an apparent issue of first impression in the district, whether a trial court's time limit on voir dire constitutes per se prejudicial error under due process principles. The court held it does not, adopting a case-by-case abuse-of-discretion standard, and found no abuse of discretion where the 75-minute limit was set a month in advance, a general questionnaire covered many topics, and counsel's use of time included many low-value questions. The court also affirmed the scoresheet's level 9 classification, holding that because the jury found battery (not just assault) during the armed burglary, the firearm could serve as a level 9 enhancer under section 775.087(1) consistent with Lamont v. State.
Key facts
- McMath was convicted of armed burglary with battery and appealed, challenging both the trial court's 75-minute time limit on voir dire and the scoresheet classification of the offense as level 9.
- The trial court imposed the voir dire time limit one month in advance, used a general questionnaire covering multiple topics, and counsel used the allotted time on numerous low-value questions during jury selection.
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Why it matters
This opinion is useful to criminal appellate practitioners because it squarely rejects the argument, drawn from Gosha and O'Hara, that extremely short per-juror voir dire time allotments are per se reversible error… — full analysis with a trial
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