Alfonza Spears vs State of Florida
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA ALFONZA SPEARS, Appellant, v. NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED CASE NO. 1D13-4123 STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed December 3, 2014. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County. Jackie L. Fulford, Judge. Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Pamela D. Presnell, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Jay Kubica, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. In this direct appeal from appellant’s convictions and sentences for battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer without violence, depriving an officer of a means of protection or communication, and battery, we conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellant’s requested jury instruction on the charge of depriving an officer of a means of protection or communication. Furthermore, because the jury was not instructed that depriving an officer of a means of protection or communication was a strict liability crime, we do not address appellant’s claim, which was raised for the first time on appeal, that section 843.025, Florida Statutes (2011), violates due process. Finally, although appellant “opened the door” to specific questions about his prior record when he testified that he never hit a police officer in his life, we conclude the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the prosecutor to question him about a 1973 offense, which did not involve a law enforcement officer, and a 1994 offense involving aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer where appellant denied being convicted of that offense and the state’s only evidence was a rap sheet entry. Contrary to the state’s assertion, we find this claim was preserved for appeal and that the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial. AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED for new trial. PADOVANO, WETHERELL, and SWANSON, JJ., CONCUR. 2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
