LEROY HARRIELSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1983-11-17
No. 82-1154
FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr. and SHARP, JJ., concur.
441 So. 2d 691 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1983) Positive 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.

Synopsis

Leroy Harrielson was convicted of sexual battery and firearm possession. He appealed, arguing the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of lewd and lascivious assault on a child. The court affirmed, holding that lewd assault is not a lesser included offense of sexual battery because they contain mutually exclusive essential elements regarding intent.


Holding

The trial court correctly refused the instruction because lewd and lascivious assault is not a lesser included offense of sexual battery. Sexual battery requires the specific intent to commit sexual battery, while lewd assault by definition requires the absence of such intent. These mutually exclusive essential elements mean neither offense can be necessarily included within the other, applying the Blockburger test.


Headnotes

[1] A lesser included offense must have all of its constituent essential elements included within the elements of the greater offense charged.

[2] Sexual battery and lewd assault are distinct offenses, as each contains an essential element that the other does not.

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Key Quotes

“An essential element of sexual battery is the intent to commit it; an essential element of lewd assault under section 800.04 is that sexual battery is not intended. Thus, the Blockburger test is met and neither offense can be a necessarily included offense of the other.”

Establishes the court's core holding that the mutually exclusive intent elements preclude one offense from being a lesser included offense of the other

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Facts & Procedural History

Harrielson was indicted for sexual battery against a 10-year-old child, Robin Hogue, involving oral and vaginal penetration occurring on diverse occas…

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Opinion of the Court
COBB, Judge.

COBB, Judge.

Appellant, Leroy Harrielson, appeals his convictions of sexual battery in violation of section 794.011(2), Florida Statutes (1981),1 and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We find sufficient evidence to support the latter conviction and affirm without further discussion of that issue.

The point urged by appellant in regard to his sexual battery conviction is that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury that a lesser included offense thereof is lewd assault as defined by section 800.04, Florida Statutes (1981). That section provides:

Lewd, lascivious or indecent assault or act upon or in presence of child. — Any person who shall handle, fondle or make an assault upon any child under the age of 14 years in a lewd, lascivious or indecent manner, or who shall knowingly commit any lewd or lascivious act in the presence of such child, without the intent to commit sexual battery shall be guilty of a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in § 775.082, § 775.083 or § 775.084.J

The indictment of'the defendant for sexual battery specified:

Leroy Harrielson, a person over the age of eighteen (18) years, did, on or about from the dates of July, 1976 on diverse occasions thru June of 1981, within Volu-sia County, Florida, then and there unlawfully commit a sexual battery upon ROBIN HOGUE, a person eleven (11) years or younger, to wit, Ten (10) years of age, by oral and vaginal penetration with his sex organ.

The appellant argues that the indictment contained all of the elements of a lewd assault,2 and that there was evidence adduced at trial by the minor victim of acts by the defendant which would support a conviction of lewd and lascivious assault upon a child under 14 years of age. It is contended that the alleged conduct of the defendant (oral and vaginal penetration) shows a “wicked, lustful, unchaste, licentious or sensual intent” on the part of the defendant. See Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, 2d Ed., p. 122 (defining the terms lewd, lascivious and indecent for purposes of § 800.04). The appellant thus concludes that “the dividing line between these two offenses (sexual battery and lewd assault) is the ultimate determination of the existence of an intent to sexually batter, but it is within the province of the jury ... to determine the existence vel non of an intent to sexually batter when a lewd, lascivious, or indecent act is performed upon a child.”

The state, on the other hand, points out that a lewd and lascivious assault is not listed as either a category one or two offense under the Schedule of Lesser Included Offenses, Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases (1981 ed.). This schedule became effective October 1, 1981, and purported to modify and supersede the categories enumerated in Brown v. State, 206 So. 2d 377 (Fla.1968).3 See Borges v. State, 415 So. 2d 1265 (Fla.1982).

The state persuasively argues that the instant indictment charges Harrielson with no offensive conduct other than acts which constitute sexual battery — the commission of which clearly implies the very intent which by definition negates the offense of lewd assault. If the allegations of the instant indictment are proven, says the state, the elements of lewd assault are not encompassed, as in the case of a lesser included offense. Here, any lewd acts were merely incidental to the conduct specifically charged and at issue in the case: oral and vaginal penetration of a minor constituting sexual battery. The state asserts that no jury instruction is required unless the specific conduct announced as criminal in the charging document could also support a finding of a lesser included offense based on that specific conduct alleged. We agree.

In Bell v. State, 437 So. 2d 1057 (Fla.1983), the Florida Supreme Court, relying on Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), stated that “lesser included offenses are tantamount to the greater offense charged if all the constituent essential elements of such lesser offenses are included within the elements of such greater offense. Conversely, offenses are separate and distinct if each contains an essential element that the other does not.” At 1058. An essential element of sexual battery is the intent to commit it; an essential element of lewd assault under section 800.04 is that sexual battery is not intended. Thus, the Blockburger test is met and neither offense can be a necessarily included offense of the other. Nor, as pointed out by the state, given the succinct language of the instant indictment, is there a lesser included offense of lewd assault even under the “alleged evidence test” for permissible lesser included offenses discussed in Bell and reflected by category four of Brown and category two of the standard jury instructions.

In S.L.S. v. State, 404 So. 2d 1105 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), review denied, 415 So. 2d 1361 (Fla.1982), relied upon by the appellant, the juvenile defendant was tried for attempted sexual battery under section 794.011(2), Florida Statutes (1979), the basis for the charge in the instant case. He was ultimately adjudicated delinquent, over objection, of the offense of lewd, lascivious, or indecent assault under section 800.04, Florida Statutes (1979), the crime for which the instruction was requested in the instant case. The objection in S.L.S. was that the offense for which there was a conviction (lewd assault) was not a lesser included offense of attempted sexual battery, and this was the gist of the argument on appeal. The appellate court agreed that lewd assault is not a necessarily lesser included offense of attempted sexual battery, but found that the accusatory pleading in that case sufficiently alleged all of the elements of lewd assault and that the facts supported such a charge under a Brown category four approach.

The accusatory pleading is not set forth in the S.L.S. opinion, but presumably it contains superfluous allegations of lewd conduct unconnected with the intentional commission of a sexual battery. If not, then we reject its conclusion as erroneous and in conflict with Blockburger and Bell.

For the foregoing reasons, we believe the trial judge correctly refused the requested instruction in the instant case, and the defendant’s judgment and sentence for sexual battery and for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon are

AFFIRMED.

FRANK D. UPCHURCH, Jr. and SHARP, JJ., concur. . Section 794.011(2) provides:

A person 18 years oí age or older who commits sexual battery upon, or injures the sexual organs of, a person 11 years of age or younger in an attempt to commit sexual battery upon said person commits a capital felony punishable as provided in ss. 775.082 and 921.141. If the offender is under the age of 18, that person shall be guilty of a life felony, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.-083, or s. 775.084.

. A category four (4) offense, or permissible lesser included offense, under Brown v. State, 206 So. 2d 377 (Fla.1968).

. We must, however, echo the puzzlement evinced by Judge Cowart in his dissenting opinion in Baker v. State, 425 So. 2d 36, 57 n. 39 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), wherein he questions how any list of Brown category four (permissible) lesser included offenses can be compiled without reference to the particular written charges or evidence in the case under consideration.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Hightower, 509 So. 2d 1078 (Fla. 1987)
    …on Ray v. State, 403 So. 2d 956 (Fla.1981), in which this Court held that lewd and lascivious conduct was not a necessarily lesser included offense of sexual battery.2 Accord Walker v. State, 464 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985); Harrielson v. State, 441 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). The state argues, however, that the decision below conflicts with this Court’s later opinion in State v. Lanier. In Lanier the defendant was charged under section 800.04 with handling, fondling, or making assault upon a twelve-…
  • O'Hara v. State, 448 So. 2d 524 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)
    …Nos. 63,135 (Baker v. State) and 63,269 (State v. Baker); Bell v. State, 411 So. 2d 319 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), reversed in part, 437 So. 2d 1057 (Fla. 1983). . See, e.g., Torrence v. State, 440 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). . Harrielson v. State, 441 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). . Bell v. State, 437 So. 2d 1057 (Fla.1983). . Giddings v. State, 442 So. 2d 336 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). . Ubi eadem ratio ibi; idem jus; et de simili-bus idem est judicium. Where there is the same reason, there is the same law;…
  • Isiah Walker v. State, 464 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)
    …ult,2 as a lesser included offense of sexual battery. We have held that these two crimes contain different elements and that, therefore, lewd and lascivious assault is not a necessarily lesser included offense of sexual battery. Harrielson v. State, 441 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). Further, the information in this case simply alleges the commission of a sexual battery on the victim. Therefore, there is no basis to argue that the elements of lewd and lascivious assault were sufficiently alleged as to make…

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