Is a Testimony Giving An Opinion of Guilt Improper ?

In Henry v. State, 700 So. 2d 797, 798 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), the Fourth District addressed the effect of improper testimony giving an opinion of guilt. 700 So. 2d at 798. The defendant in Henry was charged and convicted of robbery after being identified by a high school student who claimed that the defendant had stolen a gold chain from the student at school. Following the incident, the student victim ran to his mother's vehicle in the school parking lot and informed her of the theft. After describing the perpetrator to his mother, the mother recalled seeing a person who matched the perpetrator's description near her vehicle just moments before the theft. See id. At trial, the prosecutor asked the mother, "Do you have any doubt that this [defendant] is the person who robbed your son?" and the witness answered, "No." Id. Defense counsel objected to the question as calling for a legal conclusion concerning the guilt of the accused and the prosecutor subsequently apologized. See id. However, on redirect examination of the mother, the prosecutor again asked, over the defense's objection, whether the witness had "any doubts that we are here charging the wrong person." Id. The witness responded that she had no doubt at all. See Henry, 700 So. 2d at 798.