GARY LEO ARENA, JR. v. STATE OF FLORIDA

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: December 8, 2023
• Docket: 23-1288
• Status: Published

Opinion

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 6D23-1288 Lower Tribunal No. 2020-CF-000765-A-O _____________________________

GARY LEO ARENA, JR.,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee. _____________________________

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County. Patricia L. Strowbridge, Judge.

December 8, 2023

WOZNIAK, J.

In this appeal from a nolo contendere plea, we dismiss for lack of jurisdiction

that portion of the appeal challenging the trial court’s denial of Appellant’s request

for a special jury instruction because it is not dispositive. 1 See Fla. R. App. P.

9.140(b)(2)(A)(i) (“A defendant who pleads guilty or nolo contendere may expressly

reserve the right to appeal a prior dispositive order of the lower tribunal, identifying

1 This case was transferred from the Fifth District Court of Appeal to this Court on January 1, 2023. with particularity the point of law being reserved.” (emphasis added)). We affirm

without comment the other issues raised on appeal.

DISMISSED IN PART AND AFFIRMED IN PART.

MIZE and GANNAM, JJ., concur.

Jonah Dickstein, of Dickstein Law, Tampa, for Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kaylee D. Tatman, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED