Terry Bess v. State

Terry Bess (the defendant) appeals his judgment and sentence, entered by the trial court after a jury found him guilty of committing a lewd or lascivious battery. Because the State properly concedes that the trial court erred in failing to conduct a Richardson 1 hearing, and the record does not establish that the error was harmless, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

We summarized the law relevant to Richardson violations: When a defendant elects to participate in the discovery process, the State has an ongoing duty to disclose and provide discovery and, when the State fails to comply with…