Mullins v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledSeptember 9, 2026
Docket2D2025-0655
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
JACQUELIN ALEXANDRA COPPUS MULLINS,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D2025-0655
September 9, 2026
Appeal from the County Court for Sarasota County; Maryann Olson
Uzabel, Judge.
Blair Allen, Public Defender, and Caroline Joan S. Picart, Assistant
Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Sonia C. Lawson,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
LABRIT, Judge.
Jacquelin Alexandra Coppus Mullins appeals her judgment and
sentence for trespass on property other than a structure or conveyance.
In her initial brief, she argues that the trial court erred by denying her
motion in limine and overruling related hearsay objections, by denying
her motion for a judgment of acquittal, and by denying her motion to
correct sentencing error. In her supplemental brief, she argues that her
conviction by a six-person jury violated the Sixth and Fourteenth
Amendments.
We affirm the issues raised in the initial brief without further
comment. We write only to address the issue raised in the supplemental
brief.
Ms. Mullins argues that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments
entitled her to a twelve-person jury. She did not object to the six-person
jury below. Thus, her claim is reviewable, at most, for fundamental
error. See Serrano-Delgado v. State, 392 So. 3d 251, 253 (Fla. 2d DCA
2024).
There was no error. Florida law provides for twelve jurors in capital
cases and six jurors in all other criminal cases. See art. I, ยง 22, Fla.
Const.; ยง 913.10, Fla. Stat. (2024); Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.270. And in
Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78, 86 (1970), the United States Supreme
Court held that Florida's use of six-person juries does not violate the
Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. We have already rejected the
argument that Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. 83 (2020), permits this
court to disregard Williams. See Serrano-Delgado, 392 So. 3d at 253-54.
Ms. Mullins's argument is therefore directed to the wrong court.
She asks us to anticipate that the Supreme Court will overrule Williams
in Kian v. Florida, No. 25-6623, 2026 WL 1718018 (U.S. June 15, 2026).
But a grant of certiorari decides nothing and overrules nothing. Unless
and until the Supreme Court overrules Williams, we must follow it. See
Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/Am. Express, Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484
(1989). Likewise, we may not depart from controlling Florida law
authorizing six-person juries in noncapital cases. See Hoffman v. Jones,
280 So. 2d 431, 434 (Fla. 1973).
2
The trial court followed the law it was bound to apply. That is not
error, much less fundamental error. We therefore affirm.1
Affirmed.
MORRIS and SMITH, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
1 We express no opinion concerning the effect that any future
merits decision in Kian may have on this or another case that remains
pending on direct review. See Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 328
(1987).
3