LAZARO ALBA, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-04-11
No. 88-122
Before NESBITT, FERGUSON and LEVY, JJ.
541 So. 2d 747 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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

Defendant Alba was convicted of conspiracy to traffic cocaine with a firearm, armed robbery, and related charges based on an Information that was signed by the Assistant State Attorney but never sworn to, violating Florida criminal procedure requirements. The appellate court reversed the convictions and remanded with directions to dismiss the defective Information, but rejected Alba's request for complete dismissal of all charges.


Holding

Alba is entitled to reversal of his convictions because the Information was unsworn, which is a procedural defect that must be corrected. However, Alba is not entitled to a complete bar against further proceedings; the defect is one of form rather than substance, and the appropriate remedy is to reverse the convictions and remand with directions to grant the Motion to Dismiss, allowing the State to file a proper Information if it elects to do so.


Headnotes

[1] A criminal conviction based on an information signed by a prosecuting officer who was not sworn is reversible error.

[2] A defendant may preserve an objection to an unsworn information by filing a timely motion to dismiss.

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Key Quotes

“We think it is clear that the principal reason for this requirement is merely to secure good faith on the part of the prosecuting officer. The affidavit is not a part of the charge or the statement of the accusation against the defendant. Being a matter of form a defective affidavit, or the total absence of an affidavit as here, may be waived by failure to make timely objection or by a plea to the merits.”

Establishes that the sworn Information requirement is procedural and designed to ensure prosecutorial good faith, and that such defects are matters of form rather than substance that can be waived.

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Facts & Procedural History

Alba was charged in an Information with multiple felonies including conspiracy to traffic in cocaine with a firearm, attempted armed robbery, possessi…

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Opinion of the Court
LEVY, Judge.

LEVY, Judge.

The defendant was charged, in an Information filed by an Assistant State Attorney, with Conspiracy to Traffic in Cocaine With a Firearm, Attempted Armed Robbery, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, and Resisting an Officer with Violence. Two other persons were named as co-defendants in the Information.

One of the co-defendants filed a timely motion to dismiss the Information, pursuant to Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.190(c), on the ground that the Assistant State Attorney who signed the Information was not sworn at the time. It is undisputed that, while the Information was signed by the Assistant State Attorney, the Deputy Court Clerk, who also signed the Information, failed to administer an oath to the Assistant State Attorney prior to the signing of the Information by the Assistant State Attorney.

Defendant Alba adopted the above-described Motion to Dismiss, which said motion was denied by the Court. Thereafter, the defendant proceeded to stand trial. Prior to jury deliberation, the court granted the defendant’s Motion for Judgment of Acquittal as to the charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance. In addition, the court subsequently granted the defendant’s Motion for Judgment of Acquittal as to the charge of Attempted Robbery.

The defendant was convicted and sentenced in connection with the three remaining charges. This appeal ensued with Alba contending that he is entitled to a reversal because he was tried upon an unsworn Information. The State concedes that Alba is legally entitled to a reversal of his convictions. We agree and reverse.

In addition to having his convictions reversed, Alba seeks to have this court prohibit any further proceedings against him in connection with the charges involved in this case. We find that such a position is legally unsupportable.

Clearly, the fact that the defendant was tried upon an unsworn Information does not rise to such a level of error which would entitle the defendant to a complete release from the charges brought against him. The fact that the defect complained of by Alba is only one of form (as distinguished from substance) is made clear in Champlin v. Cochran, 125 So. 2d 565, 566 (Fla.1960), which stated, in pertinent part, as follows:

We think it is clear that the principal reason for this requirement is merely to secure good faith on the part of the prosecuting officer. The affidavit is not a part of the charge or the statement of the accusation against the defendant. Being a matter of form a defective affidavit, or the total absence of an affidavit as here, may be waived by failure to make timely objection or by a plea to the ments. Bryan v. State, 41 Fla. 643, 26 So. 1022.

The record in this case demonstrates that Alba preserved the error for appellate review, through the filing of a timely Motion to Dismiss1, thereby entitling him to have this court mandate appropriate corrective measures.

In this case, as was done in the case involving Alba's co-defendant, granting Alba the appropriate relief involves reversing his convictions and discharging him from the legal obligations and burdens that would otherwise be placed upon him by the defectively filed Information. This occurring, the case is remanded to the trial court with directions to grant Alba’s Motion to Dismiss. That cures the error committed by the erroneous pre-trial denial of that motion and allows for such further proceedings as may be appropriate, including the filing of a proper Information by the State, if the State elects to do so. See State v. Cappetta, 395 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981).

Accordingly, we reverse Alba’s convictions and remand this case with directions to the trial court to grant Alba’s previously filed (through the adoption of his co-defendant’s motion) Motion to Dismiss.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

. The question of whether or not Alba entered "a plea to the merits”, thereby waiving any objection to the defect in the Information complained of herein, has not been raised in this case. Accordingly, we do not address it.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Jackson v. State, 881 So. 2d 666 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
    …his probation is vacated, and the case is remanded to the trial court with instructions to grant his motion to dismiss. The State may again proceed against Jackson by filing a proper affidavit of violation, if it chooses to do so. See Alba v. State, 541 So. 2d 747 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989). ORDER VACATED and REMANDED. GRIFFIN, THOMPSON and ORFINGER, JJ., concur. . Accord Black's Law Dictionary 54 (5th ed,1979)(an ''affidavit” is ''[a] written or printed declaration or statement of facts, made voluntarily, and con…
  • Hedglin v. State, 892 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
    …ing case because the State is free to cure the defect and file a proper information. The State could still bring Hedglin to trial even if this court were to reverse the convictions based upon the alleged defect in the information. See Alba v. State, 541 So. 2d 747 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (recognizing that defendant who was tried upon unsworn information was entitled to reversal of his convictions, but not to complete release from charges brought against him as defect of unsworn information was only one of form as…
  • McMILLIAN v. State, 126 So. 3d 256 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)
    …PER CURIAM. The petition for habeas corpus is denied. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.140(g); State v. Perkins, 977 So. 2d 643, 645-46 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008); Alba v. State, 541 So. 2d 747 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).…

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