Racine v. State

The defendant, Wayne Racine, was convicted after a bench trial of the crimes of battery of a person sixty-five years old or older and battery. His attorney apparently filed a written motion waiving a jury trial, and the trial court entered an order granting that motion. Racine complains, and properly so, that he did not waive his right to a jury trial and seeks reversal of his convictions and a new trial.

The Florida Constitution guarantees to each citizen that the “[t]he right of trial by jury shall be secure to all and remain inviolate.” Art. I, § 22, Fla. Const.; see also Art. I, § 16, Fla.…