Uchechi Madubuike Ihedioha v. State of Florida

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: December 5, 2025
• Docket: 5D2024-0945
• Status: Published

Opinion

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA ________________________________

Case No. 5D2024-0945 LT Case No. 2022-CF-000137-A ________________________________

UCHECHI MADUBUIKE IHEDIOHA,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee. _______________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Mark J. Borello, Judge.

Matthew J. Metz, Public Defender, and Jacqueline Rae Brandt, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Robert Charles Lee, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

December 5, 2025

PER CURIAM.

Appellant claims the trial court erred in making comments and taking actions that conveyed to the jury that it disfavored the Appellant, a claim that was not raised below and is thereby subject to fundamental error analysis on appeal. Review of the record fails to disclose any error, let alone fundamental error, in the trial court’s actions, which reflected patience and restraint. As the State argues, trial counsel* for Appellant “behaved so badly that the trial judge had to intervene to maintain an orderly trial.” We agree.

AFFIRMED.

MAKAR, LAMBERT, and SOUD, JJ., concur. _____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________

* Appellate counsel for Appellant was not trial counsel; Appellant had a private attorney representing him at trial.