DARRIN L. BLEDSOE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2000-08-16
No. 2D99-1934
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND and FULMER, JJ., Concur.
764 So. 2d 927 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2000) Caution
Cited by 24 cases

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.

Synopsis

Darrin Bledsoe was convicted of burglary with battery after remaining in a home and striking another guest after the homeowner withdrew her invitation. The court reversed the conviction because Florida law has evolved to hold that the 'remaining in' language of the burglary statute applies only to surreptitious remaining, not to situations where an invited guest turns violent.


Holding

The court reversed the burglary conviction and remanded for entry of judgment on the lesser-included offenses of trespass and simple battery. Under the newly established law in Delgado v. State, the 'remaining in' language of the burglary statute applies only when the remaining is done surreptitiously, not when an invited guest turns criminal or violent.


Headnotes

[1] The "remaining in" language of the burglary statute applies only in situations where the remaining in was done surreptitiously.

[2] Burglary was not intended to cover the situation where an invited guest in an occupied dwelling turns criminal or violent.

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Key Quotes

“the 'remaining in' language applies only in situations where the remaining in was done surreptitiously”

Establishes the new legal standard from Delgado that limits burglary convictions based on remaining in a dwelling to surreptitious remainings only

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Facts & Procedural History

On March 11, 1998, Bledsoe attended a party at Michelle Weeks' home. Although Weeks may have invited him, she asked him to leave upon discovering 'bad…

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Opinion of the Court
ALTENBERND, Judge.

ALTENBERND, Judge.

Darrin L. Bledsoe appeals his conviction and sentence for burglary with battery pursuant to section 810.02, Florida Statutes (1997). We reverse.

On March 11, 1998, Mr. Bledsoe attended a party at the home of Michelle Weeks. Ms. Weeks testified that although she may have invited Mr. Bledsoe, she asked him to leave after he arrived because she had become aware of some “bad feelings” between Mr. Bledsoe and another guest, David Eales. Instead of leaving, Mr. Bledsoe remained in the home and struck Mr. Eales. The State charged Mr. Bledsoe with burglary with battery.

Section 810.02, Florida Statutes (1997), provides, in pertinent part:

Burglary.—

(1) “Burglary” means entering or remaining in a dwelling, a structure, or a conveyance with the intent to commit an offense therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or the defendant is licensed or invited to enter or remain.

The State did not dispute that Mr. Bledsoe was invited to the party. Rather, the State maintained that Mr. Bledsoe committed burglary by remaining in Ms. Weeks’ home after she withdrew her consent for him to stay. At the time of Mr. Bledsoe’s conviction, Florida law allowed conviction for burglary, even where the defendant entered a dwelling with the owner’s consent, if the owner withdrew that consent before the defendant formed the intent to commit the related offense. See Jimenez v. State, 703 So. 2d 437 (Fla.1997); Robertson v. State, 699 So. 2d 1343 (Fla.1997). The Florida Supreme Court has since receded from Jimenez and Robertson in Delgado v. State, 25 Fla. L. Weekly S79, — So. 2d —, 2000 WL 1205960 (Fla. Aug. 24, 2000). Delgado held that “the ‘remaining in’ language applies only in situations where the remaining in was done surreptitiously.” Delgado, 25 Fla. L. Weekly at S82, — So. 2d at -. The court reasoned that “[i]n the context of an occupied dwelling, burglary was not intended to cover the situation where an invited guest turns criminal or violent.” Id. Delgado governs this case under the “pipeline rule” that “[disposition of a case on appeal ‘should be made in accord with the law in effect at the time of the appellate court’s decision rather than the law in effect at the time the judgment appealed was rendered.’ ” Nolte v. State, 726 So. 2d 307, 308 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) (quoting Hendeles v. Sanford Auto Auction, Inc., 364 So. 2d 467, 468 (Fla.1978)).

Accordingly, we reverse Mr. Bled-soe’s burglary conviction. Pursuant to section 924.34, Florida Statutes (1999), and the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion in I.T. v. State, 694 So. 2d 720, 724 (Fla.1997), this court has the authority to reduce the burglary-with-battery conviction to the two necessary lesser-included offenses, or to permissive lesser-included offenses, if the charging document sufficiently alleges them and the evidence supports conviction for them. Accordingly, we remand to the trial court with directions to enter a judgment for the permissive lesser-included offenses of trespass and simple battery, first-degree misdemeanors proscribed by subsections 810.08(1) and 784.03(1), Florida Statutes (1997). We further direct the trial court to resentence Mr. Bledsoe in accordance with this opinion. See Ellis v. State, 714 So. 2d 1160, 1162 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998).

Reversed and remanded.

Concurrence
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and FULMER, J.,

On rehearing, Mr. Bledsoe argues that our decision conflicts with Bronson v. State, 654 So. 2d 584 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), in which we stated, “A defendant cannot be convicted for two lesser-included offenses under a single charge.” As a result, Mr. Bledsoe maintains it would be error for the trial court to enter judgments on the permissive lesser-included offenses of both trespass and battery when the information charged only one count of burglary with a battery. We disagree.

In Bronson, the information stated that the defendant had entered the dwelling of “Deborah Bronson or Kelly Fitch” and committed a battery on “Deborah Bronson or Kelly Fitch.” In the event the jury did not find burglary with a battery, the trial court permitted the jury to consider two lesser-included offenses of battery — one on Deborah Bronson and one on Kelly Fitch. Thus in Bronson, we reversed because the information, phrased as it was in the alternative, supported only one battery conviction, not two.

In this case, the information itself supports a finding of both trespass and battery, and the jury determined that both had occurred. “Burglary with a battery” is a legislative combination of two separate common law crimes. Because the due process concerns implicated in Bronson are not invoked in this case, we decline to extend the ruling in Bronson to this scenario. Nor do we find that the language of section 924.34, Florida Statutes (1999), prohibits this result. We recognize, however, that it is a rare occasion when an information for one charge will include the facts necessary to support a conviction for more than one lesser-included offense.

Accordingly, Mr. Bledsoe’s motion for rehearing is denied.

CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND and FULMER, JJ., Concur.


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Citator

Cited By (13 total)

  • Floyd v. State, 850 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 2003)
    …Delgado issue was: However, because this is not a case where the facts could support a “surreptitious remaining,” Valentine could not be convicted of burglary unless he had the requisite intent when he entered the vehicle. Accord Bledsoe v. State, 764 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (defendant could not be convicted of burglary for remaining at party after hostess asked him to leave). In light of these errors in the instructions, Valentine is entitled to a new trial. Valentine, 774 So. 2d at 937 (emphasis ad…
  • Nicolo J. Gian-Grasso v. State, 899 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …trategy. Davis v. State, 648 So. 2d 1249 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). A defendant is entitled to have a jury consider convicting of the two separate component offenses of a compound offense such as burglary with a battery. As explained in Bledsoe v. State, 764 So. 2d 927, 929 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), “‘Burglary with a battery’ is a legislative combination of two separate common law crimes.” A judgment could be entered on both the lesser-included offenses of trespass and battery because the information included the facts…
  • Valentine v. State, 774 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)
    …ined in the vehicle. However, because this is not a case where the facts could support a “surreptitious remaining,” Valentine could not be convicted of burglary unless he had the requisite intent when he entered the vehicle. Accord Bledsoe v. State, 764 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (defendant could not be convicted of burglary for remaining at party after hostess asked him to leave). In light of these errors in the instructions, Valentine is entitled to a new trial. REVERSED and REMANDED. HARRIS, J., concu…

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