JOHN EARL ZIEGLER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1980-07-15
No. NN-144
ERVIN, J., concurs., WENTWORTH, J., concurs and dissents with opinion.
385 So. 2d 1168 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1980) Negative Treatment
Cited by 18 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

A defendant may be convicted and sentenced on both a charge of possessing a short-barreled shotgun and a charge of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon when the same weapon is involved, because each offense requires proof of a distinct additional element not necessary for the other.


Headnotes

[1] Where a defendant is charged with two offenses involving the same weapon, each requiring proof of a distinct element not necessary for the other, the offenses are not the…

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Key Quotes

“Allegation and proof of Ziegler's possession of a shotgun was common to both counts, yet on each count the State alleged and proved an additional element, not necessary for conviction on the other count.”

The court's explanation of why the two convictions do not violate double jeopardy protections.

Facts & Procedural History

Ziegler was charged with and convicted of both possessing a short-barreled shotgun under section 790.221 and possessing a firearm as a previously conv…

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Opinion of the Court
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., Judge. WENTWORTH, Judge,

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., Judge.

Ziegler complains, among other things, that he cannot simultaneously be convicted and sentenced on a count charging his possession of a short-barreled shotgun which was or could readily be made operable, Section 790.221, Florida Statutes (1979), and on another count charging that he, a previously convicted felon, possessed a firearm, to-wit, a shotgun, Section 790.23, Florida Statutes (1979). The shotgun referred to in each count was the same.

Allegation and proof of Ziegler’s possession of a shotgun was common to both counts, yet on each count the State alleged and proved an additional element, not necessary for conviction on the other count: in respect to the first count, that the shotgun was short-barreled, and in respect to the second count, that Ziegler was a convicted felon. Ziegler’s conviction on both counts, whether simultaneously or consecutively, therefore cannot constitute double jeopardy for the same offense, proscribed by the State and Federal Constitutions. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977). For similar reasons, neither offense can be considered as “lesser included” in the other for purposes of Section 775.021(4), Florida Statutes (1979), forbidding additional sentences on lesser included offenses proscribed by different statutes. Brown v. State, 206 So. 2d 377, 383 (Fla.1968); contrast Hicks v. State, 382 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).

Appellant’s other points are unavailing. The judgments and sentences are

AFFIRMED.

ERVIN, J., concurs.

WENTWORTH, J., concurs and dissents with opinion.

WENTWORTH, Judge,

concurring in part, dissenting in part.

I concur with the majority view that possession of a short-barreled shotgun and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon are not the “same offense” for double jeopardy purposes; I further concur in the majority view that appellant’s other points are unavailing. However, I respectfully dissent on the issue of whether, in the circumstances of the present case, possession of a short-barreled shotgun is a lesser included offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In Brown v. State, 206 So. 2d 377 (Fla.1968), the Florida Supreme Court defined four categories of lesser included offenses. Category IV

comprehends those offenses which may or may not be included in the offense charged, depending upon, (a) the accusatory pleading, and (b) the evidence at the trial. In this category, the trial judge must examine the information to determine whether it alleges all of the elements of a lesser offense, although such lesser offense is not an essential ingredient of the major offense alleged. If the accusation is present, then the judge must determine from the evidence whether it supports the allegation of the lesser included offense.

In the present case the two crimes, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a short-barreled shotgun, were charged in separate counts; however, the evidence at trial revealed that the appellant possessed only one firearm, a short-barreled shotgun. Therefore, in order to prove possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the state in this case had to and did prove possession of a short-barreled shotgun. I would accordingly conclude that in these circumstances possession of a short-barreled shotgun is a lesser included offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Cf., Hicks v. State, 382 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Section 775.021(4), Fla.Stat., thus precludes separate sentences for each offense in this case. Hicks, supra.

I would remand for an order vacating the appellant’s sentence for possession of a short-barreled shotgun.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Baker v. State, 425 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)
    …edure 3.150(a) permits the joinder of offenses in a single information only when they “are based on the same act or transaction or on two or more connected acts or transactions.” . This problem was dealt with, but not analyzed, in Ziegler v. State, 385 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), where the majority held the defendant had violated two separate statutes for constitutional double jeopardy purposes. The dissent in that case concedes the statutes were separate but erroneously went on to review the facts and d…
  • Torrence v. State, 440 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
    …in Baker v. State, 431 So. 2d 263 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), the dissent in Baker v. State, 425 So. 2d 36 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), Bartee v. State, 401 So. 2d 890 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Preston v. State, 397 So. 2d 712 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), and Ziegler v. State, 385 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), rev. den. 392 So. 2d 1381 (Fla.1980). . See Judge Baskin and Judge Hubbart dissenting in Taylor v. State, 436 So. 2d 124 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) and Judge Nesbitt and Judge Hub-bart dissenting in Schreiber v. Chase Federal Savings &…
  • Rodriquez v. State, 443 So. 2d 236 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
    …417 So. 2d 260 (Fla.1982); Borges v. State, 415 So. 2d 1265 (Fla.1982); Taylor v. State, 138 Fla. 762, 190 So. 262 (1939); Monarca v. State, 412 So. 2d 443 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982); Preston v. State, 397 So. 2d 712 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Ziegler v. State, 385 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), rev. den., 392 So. 2d 1381 (Fla.1980); State v. Conrad, 243 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). . In order to understand the dual nature of double jeopardy substantive analysis, the three step analysis described above is often nece…

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