JUAN GARZA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Juan Garza was convicted by jury of aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer for a single stabbing incident. The appellate court reversed the conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer, holding under controlling precedent that a defendant cannot be separately punished for both crimes when based on a single act, and remanded for resentencing on the aggravated battery conviction with a recalculated guidelines scoresheet.
A defendant cannot be convicted of and punished for both aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer when those convictions are based on a single criminal act, as the two crimes are only aggravated versions of simple battery. The conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer (the lesser crime) must be vacated. The case must be remanded for resentencing on the aggravated battery conviction with an accurate guidelines scoresheet.
[1] A person cannot be convicted and punished for both aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer when both convictions arise from a single underlying crimin…
[2] The rule of lenity forbids separate punishments for aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer when the legislature did not intend separate punishments f…
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“a person cannot be convicted of and punished for both aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer when those two convictions are based on a single underlying criminal act”
Establishes the core holding that dual convictions for these crimes from a single act violate the rule against multiple punishments.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGarza stabbed a police officer once in the back during a fight that the officer was attempting to break up. He was convicted of both aggravated batter…
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DANAHY, Chief Judge.
After trial by jury, the appellant was convicted of aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer. The trial court departed from the presumptive range and sentenced the appellant to five-year concurrent sentences for the two counts based on State v. Baker, 483 So. 2d 423 (Fla.1986) (police officers are a special class of crime victims justifying departure in those cases). The appellant raises three issues. We find error only in the third, the sentencing issue, and reverse.
The appellant was found guilty of stabbing a policeman once in the back during a fight which the officer was trying to break up. Thus, the two convictions of aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer were based on a single act. State v. Crumley, 512 So. 2d 183 (Fla.1987) is directly on point and controlling. Crum-ley held that a person cannot be convicted of and punished for both aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer when those two convictions are based on a single underlying criminal act. This is so, our supreme court stated, because the two crimes are only “aggravated versions of simple battery.” Id. at 185. Therefore, applying the analysis of Carawan v. State, 515 So. 2d 161 (Fla.1987), the court concluded that the “legislature did not intend separate punishments [for these two crimes] and that the rule of lenity therefore forbids them.” Crumley, 512 So. 2d at 185. Consequently, the appellant Garza cannot also be so convicted and punished. Because that is so, we must vacate his conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer, the crime of lesser degree.
Concerning the departure sentence, the appellant concedes that Baker establishes a valid departure reason when a law enforcement officer is the victim of a battery. We must, nevertheless, remand this case to the trial court for resentencing. On remand, once an accurate scoresheet is recalculated in this case, the trial court may sentence the appellant for aggravated battery in the light of Baker. “Without knowing the presumptive sentence under the guidelines, the court is without sufficient information to decide whether to depart from the guidelines. See Parker v. State, 478 So. 2d 823 (Fla.2d DCA 1985); see also Davis v. State, 493 So. 2d 82 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986).” Bass v. State, 496 So. 2d 880, 882 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986).
The appellant’s conviction for aggravated battery is affirmed. His conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer is vacated. The sentences are vacated and the case is remanded for resentencing in accord with this opinion.
LEHAN, J., and BOARDMAN, EDWARD F., (Ret.) J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Viera v. State, 532 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…fficer, his departure sentence cannot stand. Viera knew before the shooting and struggle that the victim was a police officer. Under these circumstances, the fact that the victim was a police officer was a valid reason for departure. Garza v. State, 518 So. 2d 978 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Baker v. State, 466 So. 2d 1144 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985), aff'd, 483 So. 2d 423 (Fla.1986). Baker establishes that a defendant “who chooses to make a police officer acting in the line of duty the victim of his crime is to be treated di…
Authorities Cited
- Dion Michael Carawan v. State, 515 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1987)
- Bernie I. Parker v. State, 478 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
- State v. Terence A. Baker, 483 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 1986)
- Davis v. State, 493 So. 2d 82 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- State v. Crumley, 512 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 1987)
- Bass v. State, 496 So. 2d 880 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)