BRUCE A. WORLEY AND STANLEY WORLEY, APPELLANTS,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Bruce and Stanley Worley were tried together in circuit court on charges arising from the same incident. Stanley was convicted of battery on a law enforcement officer and petit theft, while Bruce was convicted of misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer. The court affirmed Stanley's conviction but reversed Bruce's conviction, finding the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to try a misdemeanor charge against one defendant when the felony charge was against a different defendant.
The circuit court lacked jurisdiction to try Bruce Worley's misdemeanor charge because Florida law requires that a misdemeanor and felony arising from the same circumstances must be committed by the same person for the circuit court to have original exclusive jurisdiction. Stanley's petit theft conviction is affirmed because any error in jury instructions was not preserved for appeal due to lack of objection at trial.
[1] To preserve an instruction error for appeal, a defendant must object to the instruction and state the grounds for the objection.
[2] A circuit court lacks jurisdiction to try a misdemeanor charge if the misdemeanor and the felony arising out of the same circumstances are not committed by the same perso…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The county court has jurisdiction in all misdemeanor cases not cognizable in the circuit court. Section 34.01, Florida Statutes (1979). Section 26.012(2)(d), Florida Statutes (1979), gives the circuit court original exclusive jurisdiction of 'all misdemeanors arising out of the same circumstances as a felony which is also charged.'”
Establishes the statutory framework governing jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases and the circuit court's exclusive jurisdiction requirements.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBruce and Stanley Worley were tried together by stipulation of the parties in circuit court. Stanley was charged with and convicted of battery upon a …
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RYDER, Judge.
Stanley Worley was charged and convicted in circuit court of battery upon a law enforcement officer and petit theft. By stipulation of the parties, Stanley’s brother, Bruce, was also tried at the same time. However, Bruce was only charged with the crime of assaulting a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor. Bruce was also convicted as charged. Their appeals have been consolidated for consideration by this court.
Stanley Worley maintains that his conviction for petit theft must be reversed. He contends that the court erred in failing to instruct the jury that an essential element of petit theft is the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property. However, the error, if any, was not preserved for appeal. To assign as error the giving or failure to give an instruction, a defendant must object to the instruction and state the grounds for his objection. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.390. The record does not reveal any objection to the failure to instruct the jury on the intent to permanently deprive. Therefore, Stanley Worley’s conviction and sentence is affirmed.
Bruce Worley argues that the circuit court was without jurisdiction to try him on the misdemeanor charge. We agree.
The county court has jurisdiction in all misdemeanor cases not cognizable in the circuit court. Section 34.01, Florida Statutes (1979). Section 26.012(2)(d), Florida Statutes (1979), gives the circuit court original exclusive jurisdiction of “all misdemeanors arising out of the same circumstances as a felony which is also charged.” The State’s argument that the circuit court had jurisdiction in the instant case because the misdemeanor charge against Bruce Worley “arose out of the same circumstances” as the felony charge against Stanley Worley is unpersuasive. Although we have been unable to find any case addressing the question, we construe section 26.012(2)(d), to mean that the circuit court has jurisdiction over a misdemeanor only when the misdemeanor and the felony arising out of the same circumstances are committed by the same person.
The State’s argument that jurisdiction was conferred on the circuit court by defense counsel’s stipulation is without merit. The law is well settled that jurisdiction cannot be conferred by consent. Sclafani v. County of Dade, 323 So. 2d 675 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975).
Accordingly, Bruce Worley’s conviction is REVERSED and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
SCHEB, C. J., and HOBSON, J., concur.
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White v. State, 404 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981)…hat issue. However, it is well settled that a defendant cannot confer jurisdiction on the trial court by waiver, acquiescence, estoppel, or consent since jurisdiction is established solely by general law. Art: V, § 6(b), Fla.Const.; Worley v. State, 396 So. 2d 1153 (Fla. 2d DGA 1981); Sclafani v. County of Dade, 323 So. 2d 675 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); State v. Evans, 225 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1053, 90 S.Ct. 1394, 25 L.Ed.2d 668 (1970). Accordingly, the order purporting to place appe…
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State v. Coble, 704 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…012(2)(d), Florida Statutes (1993) gives exclusive original jurisdiction to circuit courts “[o]f all felonies and of all misdemeanors arising out of the same circumstances as a felony which is also charged.” (Emphasis supplied). See Worley v. State, 396 So. 2d 1153, 1154 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981)(“We construe section 26.012(2)(d), to mean that the circuit court has jurisdiction over a misdemeanor only when the misdemeanor and the felony arising out the same circumstances are committed by the same person.”). Further,…
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Wiley G. Clayton v. Honorable Ben C. Willis, 489 So. 2d 813 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)…did not arise out of the same circumstances as the felonies alleged in counts one and two. Misdemeanor jurisdiction cannot be conferred upon the circuit court by waiver or consent. White v. State, 404 So. 2d 804 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981); Worley v. State, 396 So. 2d 1153 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). Therefore, the respondent, as a circuit judge, clearly lacks subject matter jurisdiction of these twenty-three misdemeanor counts and must be prohibited from proceeding in respect thereto. Aside from the fundamental jurisdiction…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Sclafani v. Cnty. OF Dade, 323 So. 2d 675 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)