HOWARD M. CURRINGTON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
Appellant Currington was convicted of dealing in stolen property and challenged a jury instruction on the inference arising from possession of recently stolen property as violating due process. The Florida appellate court affirmed the conviction, holding that the instruction did not constitute reversible error and was properly part of the standard criminal jury instructions.
The instruction did not constitute reversible error. The instruction is part of the standard criminal jury instructions for theft and dealing in stolen property, has a clear meaning that is not difficult to apply, and does not impermissibly comment on the evidence or create a mandatory presumption violating due process.
[1] Proof of possession of property recently stolen, unless satisfactorily explained, gives rise to an inference that the person in possession of the property knew or should…
[2] A jury instruction that comments on the evidence or indicates what inferences may be drawn from it may violate due process.
Previewing 2 of 6 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“Proof of possession of property recently stolen, unless satisfactorily explained, gives rise to an inference that the person in possession of the property knew or should have known that the property had been stolen.”
This quote establishes the statutory basis for the jury instruction at issue, derived from Section 812.022(2), Florida Statutes.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was found in possession of recently stolen jewelry items. At trial, the jury was instructed on the statutory inference that possession of pr…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Mandatory Presumption cases and more on FLexlaw
GRIFFIN, Chief Judge.
Appellant seeks review of his conviction for the crime of dealing in stolen property. He contends that the jury was improperly instructed. We affirm.
During the charge conference below, appellant properly objected to the giving of a proposed jury instruction concerning the inference to be drawn from the possession of recently stolen property. Section 812.022(2), Florida Statutes (1997), the model for the proposed jury instruction, provides:
Proof of possession of property recently stolen, unless satisfactorily explained, gives rise to an inference that the person in possession of the property knew or should have known that the property had been stolen.
The appellant objected below to the giving of the instruction solely on the basis that the instruction was not contained within the standard instructions for “dealing in stolen property”; rather, it only appeared following the standard instruction on theft.
On appeal, the question is more broadly stated to be one of due process, ie. that a comment on the evidence contained in a jury instruction violates due process.
Appellant relies on the case of Fenelon v. State, 594 So. 2d 292 (Fla.1992), for the proposition that any jury instruction that comments on the evidence or indicates what inferences may be drawn from it, is an impermissible invasion of the province of the jury. See, 594 So. 2d at 294. Appellant further relies on Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370, 110 S.Ct. 1190, 108 L.Ed.2d 316 (1990), for the proposition that this instruction creates an impermissible “mandatory presumption.” Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307, 316, 105 S.Ct. 1965, 1972, 85 L.Ed.2d 344 (1985).
The state urges on appeal that appellant’s failure to raise these issues below precludes their consideration on appeal. Further, the state urges that the issue presented was already decided by the Florida supreme court in State v. Young, 217 So. 2d 567 (Fla.1968), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 853, 90 S.Ct. 112, 24 L.Ed.2d 101 (1969), when the court found a similar instruction to be constitutional. Finally, the state urges that the challenged instruction does not lead the jury to the conclusion that they must find the appellant guilty if the state proves possession of stolen goods.
We conclude that the giving of the instruction did not constitute reversible error. In the first place, an objection that would bring this issue to the lower court for its ruling was not made. This plainly is not the kind of error that would rise to the level of fundamental error. Also, the challenged instruction is contained in the standard criminal jury instructions under the heading “Theft and Dealing in Stolen Property.” While it appears that there is a certain consonance between the appellant’s attack on this “possession of recently stolen property” instruction and the “flight” instruction invalidated in Fenelon, there are important differences.
First of all, the instruction involved in Fene-lon was not part of the standard jury instruc tions and, in fact, had been eliminated from the standard jury instructions. Also, in Fen-don, the court found great difficulty inherent in attempting to decide when, “fleeing” actually indicated consciousness of guilt and even what the word “flight” meant. This is not a problem in the ease before us. “Possession of recently stolen property” has a clear meaning and, as illustrated by the facts of this ease, this is not a difficult standard to apply. Concededly, the requirement of a “satisfactory explanation” is somewhat subjective, but, in this case, there was no explanation, satisfactory or otherwise, for the appellant’s possession of the recently stolen items of jewelry.
AFFIRMED.
GOSHORN and ANTOON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Scott v. State, 722 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…sumption. In this regard, the defendant’s obligation seems not unlike one found in possession of recently stolen property who must explain why he did not know the property was stolen. Section 812.022(2), Florida Statutes (1997); Currington v. State, 711 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998); J.J. v. State, 463 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). Scott’s testimony that someone planted the cannabis in his locker, not believed by the jury, does not negate his knowledge of the illicit nature of the substance presumed by the…
-
Joshua Brent LAW v. State, 801 So. 2d 965 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See Currington v. State, 711 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). SHARP, W., GRIFFIN and PLEUS, JJ., concur.…
-
Russell v. State, 858 So. 2d 356 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)…ession of recently stolen property, on the grounds that the instruction created an impermissible mandatory presumption and constituted an improper comment on the evidence. See Walker v. State, 853 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003); Currington v. State, 711 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). Russell waived certification of the question from Walker by failing to object below. Wright v. State, 789 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001), review denied, 816 So. 2d 131 (Fla.2002). AFFIRMED. ERVIN, BOOTH and KAHN, JJ., CONCU…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1985)
- Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370 (U.S. 1990)
- King Anthony Green v. State, 594 So. 2d 292 (Fla. 1992)
- State v. Young, 217 So. 2d 567 (Fla. 1968)
- Young v. Florida, 396 U.S. 853 (U.S. 1969)
- Caffey v. Missouri, 396 U.S. 853 (U.S. 1969)