STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
RICHARD PAUL CHAPMAN, APPELLEE
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PER CURIAM.
The State of Florida appeals the dismissal of an information against the appellee, Richard Paul Chapman. Chapman was charged with witness tampering in violation of section 914.22, Florida Statutes (1987), by knowingly using or attempting to use intimidation or physical force with intent to influence testimony in an official proceeding. § 914.22(1)(a), Fla.Stat. (1987). The trial court found subsections 914.-22(1)(a) and (3) unconstitutional. We affirm.
We agree that subsection 914.-22(1)(a) is unconstitutionally vague because it is not clear whether it proscribes conduct that influences another to testify truthfully, falsely or both. See State v. Cohen, 545 So. 2d 894 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). We also agree that subsection 914.22(3), unconstitutionally relieves the state of its burden to prove unlawful activity and intent beyond a reasonable doubt. The subsection provides for an affirmative defense to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant’s conduct was lawful and that his intent was to influence another to testify truthfully. Id.
Affirmed.
SCHEB, A.C.J., and FRANK and THREADGILL, JJ., concur.
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Bernt Meyer v. State, 570 So. 2d 1001 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)…ess should be set aside because .the statute under which he was convicted in 1987, section 914.22(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), has been held unconstitutional recently by this court and by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. See State v. Chapman, 562 So. 2d 355 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); State v. Cohen, 545 So. 2d 894 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). We affirm the trial court’s denial of Mr. Meyer’s petition for writ of habeas corpus because at the time he filed the petition, he had not filed a motion for postconviction rel…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Cohen, 545 So. 2d 894 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)