KATHRYN L. KUGELMANN v. STATE OF FLORIDA

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT

KATHRYN L. KUGELMANN, Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.

No. 4D22-2882

[June 28, 2023]

Appeal from the County Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Robert Panse, Judge; L.T. Case No. 502022MM000795ANB.

Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Elijah Giuliano, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lindsay A. Warner, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Kathryn Kugelmann appeals her conviction and sentence after a jury found her guilty of battery and petit theft. Kugelmann argues the county court erred when it allowed the arresting officer to testify that he arrested her because her actions constituted a battery and that she was the aggressor. On that issue, we agree and reverse.

“[A] witness’s opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused is not admissible.” Martinez v. State, 761 So. 2d 1074, 1079 (Fla. 2000). Such testimony is precluded, regardless of its relevance, by section 90.403, Florida Statutes (2022), because “its probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice to the defendant.” Id. Additionally, the danger of prejudice is heightened when the witness testifying as to the defendant’s guilt is a police officer. Id. at 1080; see also Roundtree v. State, 145 So. 3d 963, 965–67 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) (reversible error to admit officer’s statements that largely consisted of officer’s opinion about appellant’s guilt, thereby invading the province of the jury).

We therefore reverse and remand for a new trial. We affirm the remaining issues which Kugelmann has raised without comment.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. CIKLIN, GERBER and KUNTZ, JJ., concur.

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Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.