Ray Young v. State

143 So. 3d 450, 2014 WL 3534404

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: July 14, 2014
• Docket: 5D12-2371
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Appellant challenges his judgment and sentence for lewd or lascivious molestation of a child less than twelve years old. Although he raises several points on appeal, we conclude that only one point has merit and necessitates a new trial. The trial court erred by admitting as impeachment evidence the certified copies of Appellant’s prior convictions for similar crimes. Mathis v. State, 135 So.3d 484, 486-87 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014). See also Charles W. Ehrhardt, Ehrhardt’s Florida Evidence § 610.6 (2014 ed.) (error for prosecutor to attempt to introduce evidence regarding nature of witness’s felony conviction for impeachment purposes unless witness denies conviction or otherwise gives misleading testimony regarding conviction).

The State does not refute this claim of error but argues nevertheless that the introduction of the nature of Appellant’s convictions was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We cannot reach this conclusion on this record.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

TORPY, C.J., LAWSON and BERGER, JJ., concur.