Roderick Thomas v. State of Florida

Summary

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed Roderick Thomas’s convictions and sentences for felon in actual possession of a firearm or ammunition, possession of cocaine, and possession of fentanyl. The court held that Thomas’s signed stipulation acknowledging his convicted-felon status constituted a personal acknowledgment sufficient to avoid fundamental error, even though the trial court did not conduct an on-the-record colloquy. The court distinguished contrary Third District cases because those cases lacked a recorded personal acknowledgment of the stipulation.

Holdings

1. No fundamental error occurred because Thomas's signed stipulation constituted his recorded personal acknowledgment of the stipulation and his waiver of the right to require the State to prove his convicted-felon status beyond a reasonable doubt.
2. No. Presha and Harris were distinguishable because, unlike in those cases, Thomas had a written, recorded personal acknowledgment of the stipulation and waiver.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court fundamentally erred by accepting and instructing the jury on Thomas's signed stipulation that he was a convicted felon without conducting an on-the-record colloquy with Thomas.
2. Whether the absence of a separate colloquy or additional proof of convicted-felon status required reversal of the felon-in-possession conviction.
3. Whether the remaining convictions and sentences should be disturbed on appeal.

Disposition

affirmed