BRIAN DURDEN, 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.
Brian Durden appealed his conviction for carjacking while armed with a deadly weapon, challenging whether a pocketknife qualifies as a deadly weapon under Florida law and whether the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act violates the state constitution. The court affirmed his conviction and certified a constitutional question to the Florida Supreme Court.
A common pocketknife can constitute a deadly weapon when used in a manner likely to produce death or great bodily harm, making the distinction from L.B. v. State applicable. The court affirmed the conviction on the deadly weapon issue and certified the constitutionality of the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act for the supreme court's consideration rather than resolving it on appeal.
[1] Whether an object constitutes a deadly weapon is a factual question for the jury to determine in each case.
[2] A common pocketknife may be considered a deadly weapon when used in a manner likely to produce death or great bodily harm.
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“whether an object is a "deadly weapon — i.e., whether it is 'likely to produce death or great bodily harm' — is a factual question to be answered by the jury in each case.”
Establishes that determining whether an object is a deadly weapon is a jury question based on its capacity to cause death or great bodily harm, not a categorical legal determination.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDurden was convicted of carjacking while armed with a deadly weapon. He held the open blade of a pocketknife to the victim's throat during the carjack…
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 Single Subject Rule cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
Brian Durden appeals his conviction and sentence for carjacking while armed with a deadly weapon. See § 812.133, Fla. Stat. (1997). Durden argues (i) that L.B. v. State, 700 So. 2d 370 (Fla.1997), required the trial court either to grant a judgment of acquittal or to give a jury instruction that a common pocketknife is not a deadly weapon and (ii) that section 775.082, Florida Statutes (1997), the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act, is an unconstitutional delegation of judicial authority to the state attorney and violates the single subject requirement of article III, section 6, of the Florida Constitution. We affirm on all issues.
In L.B., the court, interpreting the definition of “weapon” under section 790.001(13), Florida Statutes (1997), held that a “common pocketknife” was not a “weapon” for the purposes of a possession offense. Here, however, the appellant, who held the open blade of a pocketknife to the victim’s throat, was convicted of using a pocketknife as a “deadly weapon” in a carjacking. The court has also recently held that whether an object is a “deadly weapon — i.e., whether it is ‘likely to produce death or great bodily harm’ — is a factual question to be answered by the jury in each case.” Dale v. State, 703 So. 2d 1045, 1047 (Fla.1997); see also Mims v. State, 662 So. 2d 962 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995); Arroyo v. State, 564 So. 2d 1153, 1154 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); State v. Nixon, 295 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). Accordingly, L.B. is distinguishable. See also Walls v. State, 730 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999).
We have recently rejected the arguments raised by appellant relating to the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act. See Woods v. State, 740 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) and Jackson v. State, 744 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). As in Woods and Jackson, we certify the following question to the supreme court as one of great public importance:
DOES THE PRISON RELEASEE REOFFENDER PUNISHMENT ACT, CODIFIED AS SECTION 775.082(8), FLORIDA STATUTES (1997), VIOLATE THE SEPARATION OF POWERS CLAUSE OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION?
AFFIRMED; question certified.
KAHN, WEBSTER AND VAN NORTWICK, JJ., CONCUR.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (16 total)
-
Grant v. State, 745 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)…rida Constitution, because they are not reasonably related to the specific mandatory punishment provision in subsection eight. However, the First, Fifth, and Fourth Districts have rejected this argument as it relates to the Act. See Durden v. State, 743 So. 2d 77 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Lawton v. State, 743 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); Young v. State, 719 So. 2d 1010, 1011-12 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), review denied, 727 So. 2d 915 (Fla.1999). The Fourth District has provided the following analysis: The test for d…
-
Knight v. State, 791 So. 2d 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)…n v. State, 744 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. granted, 749 So. 2d 503 (Fla.1999); Woods v. State, 740 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. granted, 740 So. 2d 529 (Fla.1999); see also Turner v. State, 745 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Durden v. State, 743 So. 2d 77 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). This court has also found that the term “felony punishable by life” in subsection 775.082(8)(a)(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), covers both life felonies and first degree felonies punishable by a term of years not exceeding life…
-
Gonzales v. State, 762 So. 2d 920 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…., Moore v. State, 729 [*921] So. 2d 541 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999), review granted, No. 95,604, 741 So. 2d 1136 (Fla. Sept. 2, 1999); Cook v. State, 737 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); Simmons v. State, 755 So. 2d 682 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999); Durden v. State, 743 So. 2d 77 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Reyes v. State, 742 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Gray v. State, 742 So. 2d 805 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999).…
Previewing 3 of 16 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Woods v. State, 740 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
- L.B. v. State, 700 So. 2d 370 (Fla. 1997)
- Dale v. State, 703 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1997)
- Lamarian Jackson v. State, 744 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
- Salvadore Arroyo v. State, 564 So. 2d 1153 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
- McGEEHAN v. State, 295 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)
- State v. Nixon, 295 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Walls v. State, 730 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
- Mims v. State, 662 So. 2d 962 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)