NELLIE FRANCIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1999-06-09
No. 98-2546
DELL and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
736 So. 2d 97 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1999) Caution
Cited by 43 cases

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Synopsis

Nellie Francis was convicted of resisting and obstructing a police officer without violence under Florida Statute § 843.02. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed her conviction, holding that her physical act of blocking the officer's path, combined with her verbal statements, constituted sufficient obstruction, and that the trial court's reconsideration of its initial grant of her motion for judgment of acquittal did not violate double jeopardy because the hearing had not concluded.


Holding

The court held that Nellie's physical act of blocking the officer's path, combined with her false statements that everything was fine, constituted sufficient obstruction under § 843.02 because words alone generally require limited exceptions, and physical conduct accompanied her words. The court also held that the trial court's reconsideration of its initial ruling did not violate double jeopardy because the hearing had not concluded when the initial grant was made.


Headnotes

[1] To support a conviction for resisting an officer without violence, the state must prove the officer was engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty and that the defen…

[2] Physical conduct must accompany offensive words to support a conviction for resisting an officer without violence, with limited exceptions.

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Key Quotes

“with limited exceptions, physical conduct must accompany offensive words to support a conviction under this statute”

Establishes the general rule that words alone are insufficient for § 843.02 conviction; physical conduct is required

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Facts & Procedural History

After a 911 call reporting a child beating, Deputy Bañas responded to the Francis residence. When Bañas attempted to investigate 14-year-old Sheldon F…

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Opinion of the Court
POLEN, J.

POLEN, J.

Nellie Francis (“Nellie”) timely appeals after a jury found her guilty of resisting and/or obstructing a police officer without violence in violation of section 843.02, Florida Statutes (1997). She raises two points on appeal, both directed to her motion for judgment of acquittal. We affirm.

This case began after 14 year-old Sheldon Francis accused his father and Nellie’s husband, Michael Francis, of beating him. Floyd Francis, Sheldon’s brother, called 911. A Broward Sheriffs Office deputy, Donald Bañas, responded to the call at the Francis residence. Floyd told Bañas that “everything’s okay” and “I don’t need you anymore.” After further questions from Bañas, Floyd stated Sheldon was unconscious in the T.V. room.

Bañas entered the house and saw Sheldon in apparent “medical distress.” Bañas testified that Nellie intervened and stepped in front of him when he tried to speak with Sheldon. He testified that she stated, “[Ijt’s okay; we don’t need you.” He testified that she then blocked his path, identified herself as a Broward Sheriffs Office deputy, and asked him not to go further in his investigation.

Bañas saw numerous bruises on Sheldon’s body and removed him from the room where his father and stepmother were. Bañas then read Michael his rights. Bañas testified that Michael admitted to hitting Sheldon with a belt.

In addition to charges alleged against Michael Francis, the state charged Nellie with two counts of child neglect in failing to protect her stepchild, Sheldon, from abuse by his father, and by failing to provide him with the requisite care after such abuse. It also charged her with violating section 843.02 by “unlawfully, knowingly and wilfully” obstructing or opposing Ba-ñas in the lawful execution of a legal duty by “falsely informpng] said officer that everything was fine in the home when in fact Sheldon Francis was in need of medical attention.... ”

After the state rested at trial, Nellie moved for judgment of acquittal as to the obstruction charge. The trial court at first opined orally that the state did not prove a prima facie case and granted the motion; however, it then gave the state until the following day to further research the issue. After reading such cases and hearing additional argument from the state, it receded from its ruling the next day and denied Nellie’s motion for judgment of acquittal. The jury eventually found her guilty of resisting without violence.

Motion for Judgment of Acquittal

Nellie first argues that the court should have granted a judgment of acquittal as to the resisting charge. § 843.02, Fla. Stat. (1997) states,

Whoever shall resist, obstruct, or oppose any officer ... in the lawful execution of any legal duty, without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree....

§ 843.02, Fla. Stat. (1997). Thus, to support a conviction for resisting an officer without violence, the state must show (1) that the officer was engaged in lawful execution of legal duty, and (2) that the action by the defendant constituted obstruction or resistance of that lawful duty. Id.; S.G.K. v. State, 657 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).1

Nellie argues that her statement to Bañas that everything was fíne was per se insufficient under section 843.02 to constitute obstruction. In this regard, courts have held that, with limited exceptions,2 physical conduct must accompany offensive words to support a conviction under this statute. State v. Dennis, 684 So. 2d 848, 849 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); D.G. v. State, 661 So. 2d 75, 76 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); Wilkerson v. State, 556 So. 2d 453, 456 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. den., 564 So. 2d 1088 (Fla.1990). However, the record reflects that Nellie, in addition to stating these words to Bañas, physically blocked his path when he went over to investigate Sheldon’s physical condition. As such conduct satisfies the second prong of section 843.02, we affirm.

Nellie, nevertheless, posits that because Bañas eventually was able to have access to Sheldon, her actions did not constitute obstruction. This analysis is flawed. The test under section 843.02 is not whether Bañas ultimately was able to carry out the execution of his legal duties, but rather, whether Nellie resisted his efforts in doing so. Because there is competent substantial evidence that she obstructed Bañas’ efforts to get close to Sheldon by blocking his path, we hold the court correctly denied the motion.

Double Jeopardy

Alternatively, Nellie argues that the court’s receding from its initial oral granting of her motion for judgment of acquittal violated double jeopardy. We disagree. Our review of the record reflects that when the court initially granted the motion, the hearing had not come to an end. Rather, discussions between the court and counsel for both sides regarding the motion were still ongoing up to and after the point the court granted the motion. At the conclusion of the day’s proceedings, it was clear the court was giving the prosecutor overnight to gather additional case law, and would continue the hearing the next day. Because the court reversed itself before the hearing came to an end, we hold that its initial ruling was not final and, thus, that double jeopardy was not triggered. Cf. Watson v. State, 410 So. 2d 207, 209 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)(holding that the initial granting of motion for a judgment of acquittal by the trial judge triggered double jeopardy where there was no indication in the record that the matter was still under consideration when he made such ruling); Troupe v. Rowe, 283 So. 2d 857, 860 (Fla.1973)(holding resentencing violated double jeopardy as “there was no further contemplated hearing for that day in the cause, and thus the matter was concluded for all purposes” when the court initially sentenced defendant), opinion conformed to State ex rel. Troupe v. Morphonios, 287 So. 2d 375 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). As such, we affirm.

AFFIRMED.

DELL and HAZOURI, JJ., concur. . It is undisputed that the state satisfied the first prong of this test in that Bañas was investigating a 911 telephone call when the alleged obstruction occurred.

. Words alone may result in obstruction of justice where the officer in question is 1) serving process; 2) legally detaining a person; or 3) asking for assistance. D.G., 661 So. 2d at 76; Jay v. State, No. 98-0109, 731 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). None of these situations existed here.


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Citator

Cited By (25 total)

  • V.L. v. State, 790 So. 2d 1140 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)
    …that legal duty. Jay v. State, 731 So. 2d 774, 774-75 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (quoting S.G.K. v. State, 657 So. 2d 1246, 1247 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)). The investigation of a crime by a police officer is an execution of a lawful duty. See Francis v. State, 736 So. 2d 97, 99 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). But while Officer Rapp had the legal authority to investigate the burglary, V.L. was under no legal obligation to speak to him.2 Instead, V.L. ran from Officer Rapp. Flight can support a resisting charge if the state pr…
  • Bowen v. State, 791 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
    …pp.3d 1546, 234 Cal.Rptr. 181 (1987), with Heard v. United States, 686 A. 2d 1026 (D.C.Cir.1996). If Ms. Bowen had been charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice pursuant to section 843.02, Florida Stat [*52] utes (1997) (see Francis v. State, 736 So. 2d 97 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)), rather than as an accessory after the fact, she would not have faced the same number of separate charges as she did in this case. . There is no conclusive documentary evidence in this record of the legal names of either Bernic…
  • Simmons v. State, 790 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
    …the court immediately addressed the kidnaping issue. After hearing from the prosecutor, (defense counsel declined the opportunity to make argument), the court reversed its prior ruling and sent the kidnaping charge to the jury. In Francis v. State, 736 So. 2d 97 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), the Fourth District Court of Appeal addressed the identical issue presented here. There, the trial court had orally opined that the prosecution had not proven its case and granted the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal…

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