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Festa v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
May 25, 2005
901 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)

Opinion

No. 4D02-305.

May 25, 2005.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Royce Agner, Senior Judge; L.T. Case No. 00-12574 CF 10 B.

Neal Gary Rosensweig of Neal Gary Rosensweig, P.A., Hollywood, for appellant.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Melanie Dale Surber, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.


We reverse appellant's conviction for aggravated child abuse because the trial court erred in prohibiting appellant from obtaining the victim's medical and mental health records, which contained evidence highly relevant to appellant's defense. We remand for a new trial. However, appellant can be retried for no more than child abuse under section 827.03(1), Florida Statutes (1999), because, as we ruled in the co-defendant's appeal, the evidence was insufficient for the greater charge of aggravated child abuse. See Brumit v. State, 843 So.2d 978 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).

Reversed and remanded for a new trial.

WARNER, KLEIN and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Festa v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District
May 25, 2005
901 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)
Case details for

Festa v. State

Case Details

Full title:Ronald M. FESTA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: May 25, 2005

Citations

901 So. 2d 1026 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)

Citing Cases

Festa v. State

We also held that the court erred in prohibiting defendant from discovering records relevant to his defense.…

Brumit v. State

This court found Festa's appeal meritorious on both points. It reversed and remanded for a new trial because…