HENDERSON JAMES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that it was reversible error to deny a motion to dismiss an amended information that improperly joined multiple victims in a single count of aggravated assault, and fundamental error to instruct the jury in a manner that allowed a guilty verdict based on a threat to one victim and fear in another.
[1] Separate and distinct offenses may not generally be alleged in a single count of an information.
[2] An information must be sufficiently precise to enable a defendant to plead a conviction or acquittal to a subsequent prosecution based on the same facts.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant was convicted of aggravated assault with a firearm, with the information alleging he assaulted either one woman or another. At trial, on…
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COBB, Judge.
Henderson James appeals from his conviction for aggravated assault with a firearm. The amended information contained a single count wherein it was alleged that' James assaulted either Katrina M. Barber or Tracey Hickson with a firearm.
At trial Hickson testified that James had aimed the gun at Barber, not at herself, but that she, Hickson, had been afraid of stray bullets since she was in the same group of girls with Barber. James did not threaten Hickson. Barber apparently was unaware of any threat posed by James.
James argues that fundamental error occurred in the jury instructions which were framed so as to allow a guilty verdict based on a threat to one woman with resultant fear in another woman, and .that such a combination does not constitute a crime. See Pugh v. State, 624 So. 2d 277 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993).
James was correct in his initial challenge to the amended information alleging error in the inclusion of multiple victims in a single count alleging aggravated assault. It is well settled that separate and distinct offenses may not generally be alleged in a single count of an information. McGahagin v. State, 17 Fla. 665, 668 (Fla.1880); State v. Dell’Orfano, 651 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 660 So. 2d 712 (Fla.1995). In McGahagin the court explained:
This indictment charges two distinct of-fences in one count, to-wit: “disfiguring” an ox under the 74th section and “injuring” an ox under the 79th section. It cannot be said in this ease that the word “injure” as used in the indictment is mere surplusage, for the reason that the injury of personal property not otherwise “described or mentioned” in the statute, is made a felony. The criminal law never permits the joinder of two or more distinct offences in one count of an indictment. The verdict of the jury was a general one of “guilty,” in no way designating of which offence the defendant was so guilty.
* * * ' * * *
This case is not an instance of an indictment setting out in one count a complicated offence, embracing various circumstances, which in themselves amount to offences, but it is a single count setting out two distinct and independent offences, which had no necessary connection with each other. 17 Fla. at 668.
An information must contain a statement of the facts relied upon as constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language in such manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what, is intended, and with such precision that the defendant may plead his conviction or acquittal to a separate indictment or information based upon the same facts. State v. Smith, 240 So. 2d 807 (Fla.1970). To be legally sufficient, an information can neither be so vague or indefinite as to mislead or embarrass the accused, or subject him or her to multiple prosecution. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.140(o). See, e.g., Martinez v. State, 368 So. 2d 338 (Fla.1978).
Lumping alleged victims together in a single count of aggravated assault and permitting the jury to return a verdict of “guilty as charged” creates serious due process problems. As asserted by the defendant here, the jury, based upon the instructions given could have found the defendant guilty finding that the defendant threatened Barber and that Hickson (but not Barber) was frightened by the threat. However, such a scenario would not constitute the crime of aggravated assault. See § 784.011, Fla. Stat. (defining criminal assault as “an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent”)
It was reversible error for the court to deny the defendant’s motion to dismiss the amended information and fundamental error to instruct the jury in a way which would permit the jury to find that one alleged victim was threatened while the other had a well founded fear that violence was imminent.
We cannot remand for a new trial based upon a corrected information charging aggravated assault because the evidence adduced by the state at trial was insufficient to establish the commission of that offense by the defendant against either Barber or Hick-son. Double jeopardy principles preclude a retrial where, ah appellate court reverses a conviction due to insufficient evidence. See Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978); Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19, 98 S.Ct. 2151, 57 L.Ed.2d 15 (1978). We note that the state has not raised the issue, by way of cross-appeal, of whether attempted aggravated assault should have been submitted to the jury as a necessarily lesser included offense. See Fredericks v. State, 675 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Hall v. State, 354 So. 2d 914 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978). Although the jury was instructed on discharging a firearm in public and improper exhibition of a weapon, neither offense is a necessarily lesser included offense under Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), nor is either a permissive lesser included offense under the wording of the amended information as required by Brown v. State, 206 So. 2d 377 (Fla.1968).
REVERSED.
DAUKSCH and GOSHORN, JJ., concur.
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Jordan v. State, 801 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…ght to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation brought against him or her. Art. I, § 16, Fla. Const. This constitutional precept has been incorporated into the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure and our decisional law. James v. State, 706 So. 2d 64, 65 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (“An information must contain a statement of the facts relied upon as constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language in such manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended, and with s…
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Barnett v. State, 121 So. 3d 643 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)…other, or when the selection of both creates a legally intolerable ambiguity. Provow, 14 So. 3d at 1136 (bold italics in original; additional italics added). The use of “and/or” may create the possibility for non-unanimous verdicts. James v. State, 706 So. 2d 64, 65 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (“Lumping alleged victims together in a single count of aggravated assault and permitting the jury to return a verdict of “guilty as charged” creates serious due process problems.”). Affirmed. DAMOORGIAN, C.J., and WARNER,…
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Miller v. State, 918 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)…ly erroneous. It permitted the jury to convict Ms. Miller of aggravated assault if one alleged [*417] victim was threatened while the other had a well-founded fear of violence. See Tindle v. State, 832 So. 2d 966 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); James v. State, 706 So. 2d 64, 65 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (holding instruction was fundamental error when it permitted the jury to find that one alleged victim was threatened while the other had a well-founded fear that violence was imminent). As was noted in James, such a scenario…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (12 total)
- Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299 (U.S. 1932)
- Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1978)
- Brown v. State, 206 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 1968)
- Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19 (U.S. 1978)
- State v. Smith, 240 So. 2d 807 (Fla. 1970)
- Martinez v. State, 368 So. 2d 338 (Fla. 1978)
- McGahagin v. State, 17 Fla. 665 (Fla. 1880)
- Fredericks v. State, 675 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)
- State v. Dell'orfano, 651 So. 2d 1213 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)
- Pugh v. State, 624 So. 2d 277 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)