MATHEW BEST, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
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This case involves a defendant convicted of possessing a stilling apparatus and mash, with the information attempting to charge a second offense. The court found the information insufficient to charge a second offense but sufficient for a first offense, which is a misdemeanor. As the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction over misdemeanor appeals from criminal courts of record, the writ of error was dismissed.
The Supreme Court does not have appellate jurisdiction over misdemeanor convictions from a Criminal Court of Record. Therefore, the writ of error is dismissed.
“The Supreme Court has no appellate jurisdiction in cases of conviction of misdemeanor in the criminal courts of record.”
Establishes the basis for the court's lack of jurisdiction.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMathew Best was charged in three counts of an information with possessing a stilling apparatus and mash, with the last two counts alleging prior convi…
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Whitfield, P. J.
— The information herein filed in the Criminal Court of Record for Orange County, contained three counts, each purporting to charge a second offense, the last two of which counts charge that Mathew Best, on May 14, 1925, (2)' “did lawfully have in his possession, custody and control a certain stilling apparatus designed and adapted for the unlawful manufacture of distilled intoxicating liquors; that the said Mathew Best, the defendant herein, was on the 28th of May, A. D. 1921, convicted in the Criminal Court of Record for the County of Orange and State of Florida of a violation of the laws against the ..•unlawful manufacture, sale, possession and transportation of intoxicating liquors, and upon said conviction had imposed upon him the judgment and sentence of the said court; that Mathew Best on the 14th day of May, A. D. 1925, did unlawfully have in his possession, custody and control certain containers containing mash capable of being distilled into an intoxicating liquor; (3)' that the said Mathew Best, the defendant herein, was on the 28th day of May, A. D. 1921, convicted in the Criminal Court of Record for County of Orange and State of Florida of a violation of the laws against the unlawful manufacture, sale, possession and transportation of intoxicating liquors, and upon said conviction had imposed upon him the judgment and sentence of the said court.
The following verdict was rendered: “We the jury-find the defendant Guilty, of, the (2) Second and (3) Third counts of information as charged. So say we all. ’ ’
The court imposed the following sentence: “Now on this day came in person the defendant Mathew-Best in open court, and being asked by the court whether he had anything to say why sentence of the law should not be pronounced upon him, says nothing. It is therefore the judgment, order and sentence of the court that you, Mathew Best, for the crime of which you have been and stand convicted, be imprisoned for six months in the county jail from the date of your delivery to the officers thereof. ’'
On writ of - error taken to this court it -is contended that “the two counts of the information, under which this de-‘ fendant was convicted, charged no offense known to the laws of the State of Florida and were wholly and totally defective, and the trial, verdict and judgment were void. ’ ’
The Attorney General concedes that on the authority of State ex rel. Lockmiller v. Mayo, 88 Fla. 96, 101 South. Rep. 228, the information is ineffectual as a charge of a second offense, but insists that the second and third counts of the information upon which the conviction was had, are sufficient charges of a first offense under the statute, and that the portions of the information which attempt to charge a second offense should be “treated as surplusage, which would leave the information good as charging the first offense. ’ ’ The statute makes the first offense a misdemeanor and the second offense a felony. Sec. 5486 Rev. Gen. Stats. 1920, as amended by Chap. 9266 Acts of 1923. The Criminal Court of Record has jurisdiction of both misdemeanors and felonies less than capital, and the judgment rendered, though informal, is in effect a judgment of conviction for a misdemeanor upon an information that is a sufficient charge of a misdemeanor and the sentence is to a penalty that is within the limits imposed for a misdemeanor under both the original and the amended statute. Such judgment so construed accords with the verdict, of “guilty of the second and third counts of the information as charged, ’ ’ since treating as surplusage the latter portion of each count, the remaining portion of the second count at least, charges a first offense misdemeanor. The portions of the information relating to a former conviction do not affect the portions charging a first offense and may properly be treated as surplusage. This being so the trial was as for a misdemeanor and the judgment of conviction and sentence is for a misdemeanor, which judgment under the constitution (Sec. 11, Art. 5) is reviewable only in the Circuit Court on writ of error duly taken pursuant to the statute.
The Supreme Court has no appellate jurisdiction in cases of conviction of misdemeanor in the criminal courts of record.
Where the record shows a want of appellate jurisdiction in this court, the writ of error will be dismissed 'sua sponte.
The conviction in this case being in a criminal court of record and for a misdemeanor, the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to review the judgment on writ of error, therefore the writ of error taken herein is dismissed. Licata v. State, 80 Fla. 554, 86 South. Rep. 427; Walden v. State, 50 Fla. 151, 39 South. Rep. 151; Sutton v. State, 13 Fla. 670.
The writ of error is dismissed. Brown, C. J., and Ellis, Terrell and Strum, J. J., concur. Buford, J., disqualified.
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State v. Edmundo Febre, 156 Fla. 149 (Fla. 1945)…152] Constitution provides that Circuit Courts shall have appellate jurisdiction ... of all misdemeanors tried in the Criminal Courts of Record. See Section 924.08, Fla. Stats. 1941 (FSA); Byrd v. State, 146 Fla. 686, 1 So. (2nd) 624; Best v. State, 91 Fla. 481, 107 So. 638. It therefore follows that appellee’s motion to dismiss the appeal should be and the same is hereby granted. It is so ordered. TERRELL, BUFORD, and ADAMS, JJ., concur.…
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Hayes S. Wood v. State, 155 Fla. 256 (Fla. 1944)…y the State of Florida in criminal cases. Counts two and four each charged misdemeanors and appeals there [*258] from are reviewed by the circuit court and not by the Supreme Court. Section 11 of Article V of the Florida Constitution; Best v. State, 91 Fla. 481, 107 So. 638; Byrd v. State, 146 Fla. 686, 1 So. (2nd) 624. Counsel for appellant pose for adjudication here the question viz: Where a tax collector is required to deliver funds collected by him within thirty days to his successor and such failure…
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Hayes S. Wood v. State, 153 Fla. 888 (Fla. 1944)…nnot be successfully contended that if the defendant had been convicted under Counts 2 and 4 of the information and had been acquitted under Counts 1 and 3 of the information, appeal to the Supreme Court would have been available. See Best v. State, 91 Fla. 481, 107 So. 638, and cases there cited. The mere fact that the felony and the misdemeanor each constituing a separate and distinct offense, were charged in the same information and that both charges were tried at the same time and before the same jury…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Mayo, 88 Fla. 96 (Fla. 1924)
- Walden v. State, 50 Fla. 151 (Fla. 1905)
- Sutton v. State, 13 Fla. 670 (Fla. 1869)
- Licata v. State, 80 Fla. 554 (Fla. 1920)