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Zitnick v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Apr 9, 1991
576 So. 2d 1381 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1991)

Opinion

No. 90-701.

April 9, 1991.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court of Dade County; Martin D. Kahn, Judge.

Mark King Leban, Miami, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Julie Thornton, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before FERGUSON, LEVY and GODERICH, JJ.


CONFESSION OF ERROR


The State, through its confession of error filed in this cause, correctly agrees that the defendant is entitled to a new trial based upon the fact that the trial court limited voir dire to fifteen minutes despite the fact that there were nineteen potential jurors, that the defendant was charged with trafficking in 400 grams or more of cocaine, and that after the expiration of the fifteen-minute period, defense counsel indicated that he needed additional time to ask the jurors about the use of confidential informants, police undercover officers, and his sole defense of entrapment. The appellant's request for additional time was denied by the court. Clearly, as the State concedes, the foregoing constitutes reversible error. See James v. State, 575 So.2d 335 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991) and Pineda v. State, 571 So.2d 105 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).

Having determined that the defendant is entitled to a new trial for the foregoing reason, we do not reach the remaining points raised by appellant in this appeal.

Reversed and remanded.


Summaries of

Zitnick v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Apr 9, 1991
576 So. 2d 1381 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1991)
Case details for

Zitnick v. State

Case Details

Full title:STEVEN ZITNICK, APPELLANT, v. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Apr 9, 1991

Citations

576 So. 2d 1381 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1991)

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