MARGARET MITCHELL, PETITIONER,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The court quashed a petit theft conviction for lack of evidence of obtaining/using the property and lack of criminal intent, where the defendant had an unrebutted good faith belief in her right to the plants.
A petit theft conviction must be quashed when there is no evidence that the defendant obtained or used the property or possessed the requisite criminal intent.
[1] A petit theft conviction requires evidence that the defendant obtained or used the property and possessed the requisite criminal intent; a good faith belief in a right to…
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The statute requires proof that the defendant obtained or used the property, which was absent here.
Margaret Mitchell was convicted of petit theft of cactus plants in a dispute with a neighbor. The evidence showed she believed in good faith that she …
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PER CURIAM.
The circuit court affirmed a county court non-jury finding and adjudication that the petitioner-defendant was guilty of the petit theft of certain cactus plants in an incident which arose from a prolonged dispute between neighbors.1 On this petition for certiorari review, we find no evidence whatever of essential elements of the offense, including those that the defendant had “obtain[ed] or use[d],” § 812.014(1), Fla.Stat. (1985), the property in question or, in view of the unrebutted evidence that she believed in good faith that she had a right to the plants, that she possessed the requisite criminal intent. Rodriguez v. State, 396 So. 2d 798 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); 16 FlaJur. 2d Criminal Law § 1389 (1979). Since the appellate approval of a judgment which is totally unsupported by the record constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of the law, Lee v. State, 374 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); 3 FlaJur. 2d Appellate Review § 515 (1978), the decision under review is quashed and the cause remanded with directions to require the county court to discharge the defendant.
Certiorari granted.
. See Rodriguez v. State, 396 So. 2d 798, 800 n. 7 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) ("a controversy such as this seems more appropriately the subject of a civil action than a criminal prosecution").
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Kneale v. JAY BEN Inc., 527 So. 2d 917 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…ailure of the circuit court to adhere to this basic rule1 resulted in a miscarriage of justice which requires that the instant petition for certiorari be granted. City of Deerfield Beach v. Vaillant, 419 So. 2d 624 (Fla.1982); see Mitchell v. State, 516 So. 2d 22 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). Accordingly, the decision of affirmance is quashed with directions to the circuit court to require the county court to award the additional sum of $100.14, plus interest and costs in all three courts. Certiorari granted. .…
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Bartlett v. State, 765 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)…ty of theft.”); Thomas v. State, 526 [*800] So. 2d 183, 184 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (“It is well settled that a well-founded belief in one’s right to the allegedly stolen property constitutes a complete defense to a charge of theft.”); Mitchell v. State, 516 So. 2d 22, 22 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (finding that the record contained no evidence establishing criminal intent in part because the defendant “believed in good faith that she had a right to the [property]”); see also Board of Regents v. Videon, 313 So. 2d 433, 4…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Rodriguez v. State, 396 So. 2d 798 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- LEE v. State, 374 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)