RICHARD E. LEON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Richard E. Leon, a former Hillsborough County circuit court judge, was convicted of two counts of perjury and one count of official misconduct after a jury trial. The appellate court affirmed the perjury convictions but vacated the misconduct conviction because the underlying statute was declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.
The court affirmed Leon's perjury convictions but reversed and vacated the official misconduct conviction and sentence because the underlying statute, section 839.25(1)(a), was declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court as unconstitutionally vague and susceptible to arbitrary application.
[1] A conviction for official misconduct under section 839.25(1)(a), Florida Statutes, must be set aside when that statute is subsequently declared unconstitutionally vague a…
[2] A conviction for perjury may be affirmed even if other convictions based on the same underlying facts are vacated due to a statutory defect.
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“The jury found Leon not guilty of the alleged crimes of bribery and the acceptance of unlawful compensation. It found him guilty, however, on each of the perjury counts and the single count of misconduct in office.”
Establishes the jury's verdict on each count
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLeon was indicted on two counts of perjury, official misconduct in office, bribery, and receipt of unlawful compensation. The jury acquitted him of br…
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PER CURIAM.
The appellant, Richard E. Leon, a former Hillsborough County circuit court judge, was indicted on two counts of perjury, official misconduct in office, bribery and the receipt of unlawful compensation.
The jury found Leon not guilty of the alleged crimes of bribery and the acceptance of unlawful compensation. It found him guilty, however, on each of the perjury counts and the single count of misconduct in office.
The trial court adjudicated Leon guilty, and placed him on probation on each count for a five year concurrent term with two special conditions, i.e., that $5,000.00 in court costs be paid within one (1) year and that he perform 1000 hours of community service with the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services at the rate of not less than twenty-five (25) hours per week, commencing on December 19, 1983.
The appellant’s attack upon his conviction is composed of six points. After consideration of the record, the briefs and hearing oral arguments in this matter, we find five of Leon’s points on appeal merit-less and affirm the convictions and sentences with but one exception.
Section 839.25(l)(a), Florida Statutes, the statutory predicate undergirding Leon’s “official misconduct” conviction, was found unconstitutional by our supreme court during the pendency of this matter before us. In State v. Jenkins, 469 So. 2d 733 (Fla.1985), reh’g denied, June 17, 1985, the supreme court determined that section 839.25(l)(a) is “unconstitutionally vague and susceptible to arbitrary application.” Accordingly, consistent with the result in Jenkins, we set aside the conviction and vacate the sentence on Count III.
LEHAN, A.C.J., and FRANK and HALL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Short, 483 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)…n 839.25(1), Florida Statutes (1975).1 Our su [*12] preme court has previously found constitutional infirmities in subsections (a) and (c). State v. Jenkins, 469 So. 2d 733 (Fla.1985); State v. DeLeo, 356 So. 2d 306 (Fla.1978). Accord Leon v. State, 474 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), clarified on rehearing, (Aug. 30, 1985); Moosbrugger v. State, 461 So. 2d 1033 (Fla. 2d DCA), approved, 472 So. 2d 742 (Fla.1985). In light of these precedents, Short urges that, because of its “catch-all” language, subsection (b…
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THE Florida BAR v. Leon, 510 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 1987)…ch count, ordered to pay $1,000 in court costs, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service. In July, 1985, the District Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction and sentence with the exception of the misconduct provisions. Leon v. State, 474 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). We find the nature of Leon’s actions clearly requires that we increase the penalty from the three-year suspension recommended by the referee to disbarment. Accordingly, Leon is hereby disbarred from the practice of law in this st…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Jenkins, 469 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 1985)