Opinion
No. 94-2731.
January 24, 1996. Rehearing, Rehearing En Banc, and Certification of Conflict Denied; Certification of Question Granted June 21, 1996.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, for Broward County; Mark A. Speiser, Judge.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Allen J. DeWeese, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Myra J. Fried, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
This case fits squarely within our holding in Jones v. State, 656 So.2d 489 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), which controls the outcome here. In Jones, as here, the trial court gave extemporaneous instructions to the jury that denigrate the reasonable doubt standard. We held in Jones that it was fundamental error to instruct a jury that it could convict on a lesser standard of proof. Accordingly, as we did in Jones, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
POLEN, KLEIN and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.