Jessie Claire Roberts, Petitioner v. State of Florida, Respondent.

Summary

The court held that the trial court committed fundamental error by failing to instruct the jury on attempted manslaughter by act, a necessarily lesser included offense of attempted second-degree murder, even though Roberts did not request the instruction. Applying the court's intervening precedent, it concluded that Roberts was entitled to a new trial and quashed the district court's decision to the extent inconsistent with that precedent. Justice Polston, joined by Justices Canady and Lawson, dissented and would have held that the instructional omission was not fundamental error.