A Florida appeals court has upheld the conviction of former Naples attorney Giselle Guzman in the 2022 death of a bicyclist she struck and left behind on a residential street, rejecting her argument that her young daughter, who was in the car at the time, should have testified in her defense. The ruling came down on October 23.
Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeals affirmed Guzman’s conviction for leaving the scene of a crash involving death, according to Naples Daily News. The panel, Chief Judge Dan Traver and Judges John K. Stargel and Paetra T. Brownlee, had heard oral arguments in Orlando on September 17.
Guzman had argued on appeal that her daughter, who was riding in the car during the crash, should have been called as a witness at trial.
A Deadly December Night on 41st Street Southwest
The case traces back to December 9, 2022, when 45-year-old bicyclist Alberto Martinez Gonzalez was killed along 41st Street Southwest near 22nd Avenue in Naples. Guzman testified that she initially believed she had hit an animal. Security footage, meanwhile, appeared to show her talking to her daughter in a way that acknowledged she had struck a person, the outlet reported…