REVERETHUS C. BURGESS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
WALDEN, Judge.
Defendant appeals a conviction for escape under Section 944.40, F.S.1969, F.S.A. He was incarcerated pursuant to a conviction for three crimes and was awaiting sentencing at the time of his escape.
The pertinent statutes in force at that time, which have since been changed, defined a prisoner as “ . . . any person convicted and sentenced by the courts . ” Defendant did not fall within the statutory definition of prisoner at the time because he had not yet been sentenced. We reverse upon authority of Van Den Bliek v. State, 281 So. 2d 218, Fourth District Court of Appeal Opinion issued August 6, 1973; Brochu v. State, Fla.App.1972, 258 So. 2d 286 and State v. Benjamin, Fla.App.1972, 267 So. 2d 348.
Reversed.
OWEN, C. J., and MAGER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Villegas-Alen v. State, 797 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)…cted arrest”). In this case we are confronted with a criminal statute to be strictly construed and with the clear statement in Melton that in the context of the criminal law one under arrest is being held to answer for a crime. See Burgess v. State, 283 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973) (vacating escape conviction because defendant escaped after conviction but before his sentencing because “prisoner” defined as person both convicted and sentenced); Brochu v. State, 258 So. 2d 286 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972) (setting asi…
Authorities Cited
- Brochu v. State, 258 So. 2d 286 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972)
- VAN DEN Bliek v. State, 281 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973)
- State v. Benjamin, 267 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972)
- State v. Pitofsky, 267 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972)