JUDE CAZEAU, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Jude Cazeau appeals his aggravated stalking conviction, challenging the trial court's denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal and the jury instructions. The appellate court affirmed the denial of acquittal but reversed and remanded due to fundamental error in the jury instructions, which failed to require the jury to find that Cazeau had knowledge of the protective injunction—an essential element of the crime.
The court affirmed the denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal but reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial. The failure to instruct the jury that knowledge of the injunction is a required element of aggravated stalking constitutes fundamental error when that element is disputed at trial, as it was in this case.
[1] A conviction for aggravated stalking requires proof that the defendant had knowledge of the injunction.
[2] The failure to instruct the jury on a disputed element of a crime constitutes fundamental error.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“In order to convict a defendant of aggravated stalking under this statute, as an element of the crime, the State must prove that the defendant had knowledge of the injunction.”
Establishes that knowledge of the injunction is a required element of the aggravated stalking crime.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCazeau was charged with aggravated stalking in violation of Florida Statutes section 784.048(4), which requires proof that a defendant knowingly, will…
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STEVENSON, J.
Jude Cazeau appeals his conviction for aggravated stalking, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal or, alternatively, that fundamental error in the jury instructions entitles him to reversal and a new trial. We reject Cazeau’s contention that he was entitled to a judgment of acquittal. We agree, though, that the jury instructions given were inadequate, requiring reversal, and we write to address this issue.
Cazeau was charged with aggravated stalking in violation of section 784.048(4), Florida Statutes (2002), which provides as follows:
Any person who, after an injunction for protection against ... domestic violence ... knowingly, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or harasses another person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree.
In order to convict a defendant of aggravated stalking under this statute, as an element of the crime, the State must prove that the defendant had knowledge of the injunction. See State v. Johnson, 676 So. 2d 408, 411 (Fla.1996).1
In the instant case, though, the jury was never told that to convict Cazeau of aggravated stalking, it must first find that the defendant had knowledge of the injunction. Cazeau acknowledges that he never requested such an instruction below nor objected to the instructions that were given and, therefore, is entitled to relief on appeal only if the error is fundamental. “[T]he failure to instruct on a particular element of a crime is fundamental error when that element is disputed at trial.” Jones v. State, 857 So. 2d 969, 970 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (citing State v. Delva, 575 So. 2d 643, 645 (Fla.1991)); see also Guitterrez v. State, 837 So. 2d 1095, 1096-97 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (citing Reed v. State, 837 So. 2d 366, 369 (Fla.2002)).
Through cross examination and arguments advanced both in support of the motion for judgment of acquittal and in closing, defense counsel made Cazeau’s knowledge of the injunction a disputed issue at trial. Thus, we are compelled to reverse his conviction and remand for a new trial.2 See Gaspard v. State, 848 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 1st DCA) (reversing aggravated stalking conviction where jury was not instructed that defendant’s knowledge of injunction was an element of the crime and this issue was disputed at trial), supplemented on reh’g, 845 So. 2d 986 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003).
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.
STONE and HAZOURI, JJ., concur. . We acknowledge that there is language in this court’s opinion in Livingston v. State, 847 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003), which could be construed in a manner contrary to the supreme court's holding in Johnson. The issue in Livingston was whether reversal of the aggravated stalking conviction was required as a consequence of the failure to serve the injunction on the defendant. We take this opportunity to clarify that the case does not stand for the proposition that the State need not prove that the defendant had knowledge of the injunction in order to sustain a conviction under section 784.048(4).
. Our holding that the failure to instruct on the knowledge element requires reversal renders moot Cazeau’s additional claim regarding the propriety of the jury instruction concerning the term "maliciously.”
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Citator
Cited By
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Coverdale v. State, 940 So. 2d 558 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)…poses of remand that the trial court must instruct the jury that an element of aggravated stalking under section 784.084(4) is that the defendant had knowledge of the injunction. See State v. Johnson, 676 So. 2d 408, 411 (Fla.1996); Cazeau v. State, 873 So. 2d 528, 529 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Reversed and remanded for new trial. ALTENBERND and WALLACE, JJ„ Concur. . At trial, the validity of the no contact amendment was disputed, but that issue was not raised on appeal and we do not address it.…
Authorities Cited
- Reed v. State, 837 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 2002)
- D'Angelo v. State, 575 So. 2d 643 (Fla. 1991)
- State v. Batraville Vincent Delva, 575 So. 2d 643 (Fla. 1991)
- State v. Johnson, 676 So. 2d 408 (Fla. 1996)
- Lawson v. State, 845 So. 2d 986 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
- Jones v. State, 857 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- Guitterrez v. State, 837 So. 2d 1095 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- Faulkner v. Fla. Dep't of Agric. & Consumer Servs., 847 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- Gaspard v. State, 848 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
- Livingston v. State, 847 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)