STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
RODNEY THOMAS, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1987-06-10
No. 4-86-0800
LETTS and WALDEN, JJ., concur.
508 So. 2d 1287 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1987) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

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

The State appeals the dismissal of a burglary tool possession charge against Rodney Thomas. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reverses the dismissal, holding that the trial court erred in ruling the defendant's confession inadmissible and that sufficient circumstantial evidence existed to establish intent to use a screwdriver as a burglary tool.


Holding

The court reversed, holding that: (1) the corpus delicti was sufficiently established by circumstantial evidence (apprehension in a burglarized area at night with a screwdriver and socks on hands) making the confession admissible; and (2) intent to use a common household item as a burglary tool may be proved by circumstantial evidence and does not require proof of actual use.


Headnotes

[1] The corpus delicti need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt; evidence tending to show that a crime has been committed is sufficient.

[2] Circumstantial evidence, including the circumstances of arrest and an incriminatory statement, may establish the corpus delicti.

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Key Quotes

“It is not required, however, that the corpus delicti be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It is sufficient if the evidence tends to show that a crime has been committed.”

Establishes the standard for corpus delicti and why the trial court erred in requiring stronger evidence before admitting the confession

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Facts & Procedural History

Police apprehended Thomas after he jumped a fence and fled from a frequently-burglarized neighborhood at 12:30 a.m. He was carrying a screwdriver and …

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Opinion of the Court
HERSEY, Chief Judge.

HERSEY, Chief Judge.

The state appeals an order dismissing that portion of an information which charged appellee with possession of a burglary tool (a screwdriver). We reverse.

A confidential informant advised police that appellee had committed a number of burglaries. During surveillance of a development where several of the burglaries had taken place, appellee was apprehended after jumping over a fence and attempting to run away. Appellee wore a pair of socks over his hands at the time of arrest and was carrying a screwdriver. He admitted having entered the development for the purpose of committing a burglary, but alleged that he was arrested before being able to perpetrate the crime.

There were two facets to the trial court’s rationale for granting appellee’s motion to dismiss. The incriminatory statement, being in the nature of a confession, was ruled inadmissible for lack of a sufficient independent showing of the corpus delicti. Without the confession, reasoned the trial court, there was insufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case.

It is not required, however, that the corpus delicti be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It is sufficient if the evidence tends to show that a crime has been committed. Stone v. State, 378 So. 2d 765, 771 (Fla.1979), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 986, 101 S.Ct. 407, 66 L.Ed.2d 250 (1980).

Appellee was apprehended at 12:30 a.m., after being discovered in a frequently-burglarized neighborhood from which he fled by jumping a fence, in possession of a screwdriver and with both hands covered by socks. He also initially gave a false name to the arresting officer. This evidence is sufficient to establish the corpus delicti. Thus, the incriminatory statement was admissible.

Appellee argues, however, that when a tool is a common household item, intent to use it as a burglary tool may be established only by evidence that it was actually used to commit or to attempt to commit a burglary.

The pertinent statute, section 810.06, Florida Statutes (1985), states:

Whoever has in his possession any tool, machine, or implement with intent to use the same, or allow the same to be used, to commit any burglary or trespass shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Appellee's interpretation of the statute is based upon a line of cases from the second district court of appeal, exemplified by K.W. v. State, 468 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). That court’s reasoning, in turn, is apparently based upon a statement by the supreme court, in a somewhat different context, that “for such a tool [simple household tool] to be ‘illegal,’ it must be used as a burglary tool — thus becoming a facet of the burglary, breaking and entering transaction, etc.” Foster v. State, 286 So. 2d 549, 551 (Fla.1973), receded from in part, Jenkins v. Wainwright, 322 So. 2d 477 (Fla.1975).

As later explained in Ferguson v. State, 420 So. 2d 585, 587 (Fla.1982), however: “Possession of a common household item can be illegal when the person possessing it has used it in committing a burglary or has the intent to use it in committing a burglary.”

Since intent may be proved by circumstantial evidence, Jones v. State, 192 So. 2d 285, 286 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966) (and here there is also the incriminatory statement), there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

LETTS and WALDEN, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Thomas v. State, 531 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 1988)
    …BARKETT, Justice. We have for review State v. Thomas, 508 So. 2d 1287 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), based on express and direct conflict with K.W. v. State, 468 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), and Preston v. State, 373 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979), cert. denied, 383 So. 2d 1203 (Fla.1980). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, [*709]…
    1 / 2

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