At his DUI trial in Palm Beach County, the defendant refused to perform roadside sobriety exercises or provide a breath sample after being warned refusal would suspend his license. Prosecutors introduced that refusal as evidence, and in rebuttal closing argument told the jury it showed “consciousness of guilt.”
The defendant argued on appeal that the comment improperly shifted the burden of proof onto him to prove his own innocence, since the State had spent its initial closing argument emphasizing that the burden was its own. The Fourth District disagreed, holding there was no reasonable possibility the jury would have understood the rebuttal comment as anything other than an argument about the weight of evidence already in the record — not a suggestion that the defendant had to prove anything.
The conviction was affirmed.
Citation: Paul v. State, No. 4D2025-0899 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 2, 2026).