JOHN E. INGRAHAM, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Ingraham appealed his conviction and sentence for sexual battery and kidnapping. The court reversed his conviction on one count of sexual battery for lack of proof of penetration, vacated his sentence due to inadequate written reasons for departure from guidelines, but affirmed the trial court's authority to enhance sentences based on firearm findings under Florida's reclassification statute.
The court held that Ingraham's conviction on Count V for sexual battery must be reversed due to lack of proof of penetration. The sentencing must be vacated because the trial court failed to provide clear and convincing written reasons for departure from guidelines. However, the court affirmed that section 775.087 enhancement was properly applied because Ingraham was charged under the alternative of "actual physical force" rather than the deadly weapon alternative, making the enhancement statute available.
[1] A conviction for sexual battery requires proof of penetration.
[2] A court must provide clear and convincing written reasons for departing from a recommended guideline sentence.
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“We agree with appellant that he was improperly convicted of sexual battery in Count V because there was no proof of penetration.”
Establishes that sexual battery conviction was reversed due to insufficient evidence of the essential element of penetration.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIngraham was charged with five counts of sexual battery with force likely to cause serious personal injury and kidnapping. He was found guilty of two …
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DAUKSCH, Judge.
This is an appeal from a sentence in a sexual battery and kidnapping case.
We agree with appellant that he was improperly convicted of sexual battery in Count V because there was no proof of penetration.
We agree also with appellant that the court improperly departed from the recommended guideline sentence because he failed to provide clear and convincing written reasons for departure. Rease v. State, 493 So. 2d 454 (Fla.1986); Kibler v. State, 501 So. 2d 76 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987).
We disagree with appellant that the judge erred in enhancing the penalties. Appellant was charged in five counts of sexual battery with force likely to cause serious personal injury. He was found guilty of two counts of sexual battery with threat of great force, two counts of sexual battery with threat of slight force and in the remaining count he was found not guilty. In each of the verdicts the jury found that the offense was committed “with a firearm.” This latter finding permits enhancement of the sentence under section 775.087, Florida Statutes (1977).
The state charged the appellant with sexual battery with the use of “force likely to cause serious personal injury” under section 794.011(3) and included in the charge that he “did in the process thereof use, threaten to use, or carried a firearm.” The first quoted portion of the charge accuses him of the crime while the second quoted portion makes operative the “reclassification” statute. § 775.087. Appellant would have us hold that because the statute under which he was charged provides an alternative means by which to commit a crime, “uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon,” that section 775.087 is unavailable to the sentencing judge. He argues that section 775.087 specifically excludes felonies in which the use of a weapon or firearm is an essential element. While he is correct that the statute excludes those felonies, he is incorrect that the exclusion applies here.
The appellant in this case was not charged with sexual battery “and in the process thereof uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon.” He was charged with using “actual physical force likely to cause serious personal injury,” an alternative way of committing the crime. He was also charged, incidentally, with using, threatening to use or carrying a firearm. As we said, this was to make the enhancement operative. Under the first alternative, “in the process thereof uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon,” the proof is different from that in the enhancement statute. The first requires proof of use of a deadly weapon. Conversely, the enhancement statute only requires proof that a firearm was carried.
The conviction on Count V is reversed, the sentence vacated and this cause remanded for resentencing. The judgment is hereby corrected to indicate an adjudication of guilt for one life felony sexual battery, one life felony kidnapping with a firearm and two first degree felony sexual batteries.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED.
SHARP, C.J., and COWART, J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Gonzalez v. State, 569 So. 2d 782 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…t simply asserts that his use of the firearm must be considered an essential element. However, the mere fact that a firearm is used in the commission of a crime does not necessarily make it an essential element of that crime. Cf. Ingraham v. State, 527 So. 2d 222 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 534 So. 2d 400 (1988); Strickland v. State, 415 So. 2d 808 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), aff'd., 437 So. 2d 150 (1983); Williams v. State, 407 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981); Pedrera v. State, 401 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). We…
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Hervey Lareau v. State, 554 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)…It has also been determined that a conviction for sexual battery under section 794.-011, Florida Statutes, may be subject to enhancement where the offense is committed with a firearm and the weapon is not included in the charge. Ingraham v. State, 527 So. 2d 222 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 534 So. 2d 400 (Fla.1988). In Ingraham, enhancement was upheld despite the fact that the defendant could have been charged with committing the offense by use of the deadly weapon. The court said: The state charged the a…
Authorities Cited
- Rease v. State, 493 So. 2d 454 (Fla. 1986)
- Kibler v. State, 501 So. 2d 76 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)