This week’s Florida appellate decisions, covered case by case: a Sarasota sexual battery conviction reversed because the jury heard that the complainant accused her stepfather of abuse but never heard that the abuse was sexual, the one word the Second District said carried the defense. Plus PTSD evidence that needed an expert after Oquendo, the First District openly disagreeing with the Fourth on the abnormal mental condition instruction, a medical examiner allowed to relay an absent analyst’s toxicology, two traffic-stop decisions on exit orders and burned cannabis, a surcharge the State tried to concede away, two punitive damages proffers against commercial drivers, and a Pasco slip and fall that ended on summary judgment. Then a deep dive on the substitute analyst: who has to take the stand for a lab result, and what that means for the blood report in a DUI file.

PRACTICE AREAS THIS WEEK: ten criminal decisions and three injury decisions, with two Sarasota cases, a Duval trucking case, and a Pasco premises case.

CHAPTERS
0:00 What the jury hears
1:56 Johnson: the one word the jury never heard
4:27 Bedward: PTSD after Oquendo
6:06 Gabriel: the First District disagrees with the Fourth
7:52 Fonte: the medical examiner and someone else’s toxicology
9:16 Parish and Smith: exit orders and burned cannabis
10:51 Adderley: the State concedes, and the court does the math
11:38 The rest of the week
12:31 Limousines and Gresham: when a jury hears punitive damages
16:08 Ausburn: the slip and fall nobody could describe
18:07 Deep dive: the substitute analyst and the DUI blood report
22:34 The working playbook for a lab result
25:15 The week in one line

Cases covered:
Johnson v. State, 2D2024-0982 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 25, 2026)
Bedward v. State, 4D2024-0072 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Gabriel v. State, 1D2023-3107 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Fonte v. State, 3D25-0850 (Fla. 3d DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Parish v. State, 1D2025-3040 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Smith v. State, 1D2025-0497 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Adderley v. State, 1D2025-0188 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Brown v. State, 2D2025-2204 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 25, 2026)
Jenkins v. State, 5D2026-0151 (Fla. 5th DCA Sept. 25, 2026)
Beasley v. State, SC2026-1399 (Fla. Sept. 22, 2026)
Limousines of South Florida, Inc. v. Levit, 3D26-0024 (Fla. 3d DCA Sept. 23, 2026)
Gresham v. FEC Highway Services, LLC, 5D2024-2555 (Fla. 5th DCA Sept. 25, 2026) (Jay, C.J., dissenting)
Ausburn v. Wesley Chapel-T, LLC, 2D2025-0516 (Fla. 2d DCA Sept. 25, 2026)

Also discussed: Oquendo v. State, 420 So. 3d 466 (Fla. 2025); Perry v. State, 256 So. 3d 888 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018); State v. Creller, 386 So. 3d 487 (Fla. 2024); Perlmutter v. Federal Insurance Co., 434 So. 3d 681 (Fla. 2026).

Discussed in the deep dive: Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004); State v. Belvin, 986 So. 2d 516 (Fla. 2008); State v. Johnson, 982 So. 2d 672 (Fla. 2008); Baber v. State, 775 So. 2d 258 (Fla. 2000); Sobota v. State, 933 So. 2d 1277 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); Bullcoming v. New Mexico, 564 U.S. 647 (2011); Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779 (2024); Robinson v. State, 3D23-1254 (Fla. 3d DCA Oct. 8, 2025).

Most of these decisions are not final until the time for rehearing expires. Want the opinions, or the one-page lab witness checklist? Email rory@thesafirlawyer.com and I will send them over, no charge.

Safir Injury and Criminal Defense Law handles criminal, DUI, and personal injury matters across Florida, and we gladly accept referrals from fellow attorneys. Call or text 727-472-8096, or find us at thesafirlawyer.com.

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Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other case.