Abraham Jackson Mpaka v. State of Florida

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed January 14, 2026.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D23-1454
Lower Tribunal No. F08-47375
________________
Abraham Jackson Mpaka,
Appellant,
vs.
State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Robert T.
Watson, Judge.
Wasson & Associates, Chartered, and Roy D. Wasson, for appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General and Katryna Santa Cruz, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Before SCALES, C.J., and EMAS and MILLER, JJ.
PER CURIAM.

2
Affirmed. See Craven v. State, 310 So. 3d 891, 899 (Fla. 2020) (“Under
Florida law, a party's use of peremptory challenges is limited only by the rule
that the challenges may not be used to exclude members of a ‘distinctive
group,’ such as race.”) (quoting San Martin v. State, 705 So. 2d 1337, 1343
(Fla. 1997)) (additional citations omitted); Brannon v. State, 320 So. 3d 898,
902 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021) (“The factors relevant to the trial court’s genuineness
inquiry include the ‘racial make-up of the venire, prior strikes exercised
against the same . . . racial group, or singling out the juror for special
treatment.’” (quoting Norona v. State, 137 So. 3d 1096, 1097-97 (Fla. 3d
DCA 2014)); see also Melbourne v. State, 679 So. 2d 759, 764-65 (Fla.
1996) (holding that the trial court’s ultimate determination of genuineness—
whether the proffered reason for the strike was a pretext—turns primarily on
an assessment of credibility, therefore implicating the abuse of discretion
standard, and will be affirmed on appeal unless there is no record support
for the trial court's finding.).