State of Florida, Petitioner v. Damani Spencer, Respondent — Canady, J., Dissenting

Summary

The dissent would reject a new trial based on an unobjected-to incomplete instruction on attempted manslaughter because the omitted matter lacked an evidentiary basis and could not logically have caused the attempted second-degree-murder conviction. It would reject reliance on the jury-pardon doctrine, extend the prejudice reasoning from the cited postconviction precedent to the fundamental-error context, and leave the conviction undisturbed. The dissent also concludes that the majority's newly recognized exception should apply because the defense conceded that a crime had occurred while disputing only Spencer's identity as the perpetrator.