BRUCE MADISON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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A defendant may be convicted of resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence only if those convictions address separate acts; a continuous resistance to arrest constitutes a single offense.
[1] A defendant may be convicted of both resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence if the convictions address two separate acts of resisting.
[2] A continuous resistance to an ongoing attempt to effect a defendant's arrest constitutes a single instance of resisting an officer.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBruce Madison was convicted of resisting arrest with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest without violence, all stemmi…
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PETERSON, J.
Bruce Madison appeals his judgment and convictions for three counts: resisting arrest with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest without violence. All of the counts stemmed from a single episode and a continuous resistance to the arrest.
A defendant may properly be convicted of both resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence if those convictions address two separate acts of resisting. See Bright v. State, 760 So. 2d 287, 288 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); see also Casselman v. State, 761 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). However, a continuous resistance to the ongoing attempt to effect a defendant’s arrest constitutes a single instance of resisting an officer under section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1999). See Damien v. State, 743 So. 2d 611, 612 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (citing Wallace v. State, 724 So. 2d 1176 (Fla.1998); Stanley v. State, 733 So. 2d 559, 559 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)). Multiple convictions on multiple counts of resisting arrest without violence arising out of a single episode, even if more than one officer is involved, constitute a double-jeopardy violation. See Fogle v. State, 754 So. 2d 878, 878-79 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (internal citations omitted).
In the instance case, both Madison’s conviction for resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence arose from a single episode even though two police officers were involved. On the other hand, it is clear that Madison’s conviction for resisting arrest with violence was proper for struggling with and intentionally striking one of the police officers. Therefore, only his conviction for resisting arrest without violence should be vacated. Accord Brown v. State, 754 So. 2d 124, 125 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000).
We affirm the convictions and sentences except for the conviction of count three, resisting arrest without violence, which we vacate. We remand for recalculation of the scoresheet and resentencing.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.
COBB and PALMER, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By (12 total)
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Desmond Swilley v. State, 845 So. 2d 930 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)…ing police officers with violence4 based upon evidence [*933] indicating that he placed his car in reverse and then drove it towards one officer and then into a vehicle occupied by another officer in an attempt to avoid arrest. In Madison v. State, 777 So. 2d 1175 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), our court explained that a defendant can be convicted of both resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence for conduct committed during the course of one continuous criminal episode only if those convicti…
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Williams v. State, 959 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)…st without violence are prohibited when the acts of resisting occurred as part of a single criminal episode. See, e.g., Wallace v. State, 724 So. 2d 1176, 1181 (Fla.1998); Johnson v. State, 747 So. 2d 1027, 1027 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); Madison v. State, 777 So. 2d 1175, 1175 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). This is so because the elements of the lesser offense of resisting without violence are subsumed within the greater offense of resisting with violence. Swilley v. State, 845 So. 2d 930, 933 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003); see also §…
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R.J.R. v. State, 88 So. 3d 264 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)…Goodman v. State, 801 So. 2d 1012, 1014 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (holding that a defendant could not be convicted of both resisting arrest with violence and resisting arrest without violence arising out of a continuous single episode); Madison v. State, 777 So. 2d 1175, 1176 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001) (“[A] continuous resistance to the ongoing attempt to effect a defendant’s arrest constitutes a single instance of resisting an officer.... ”). Here, the State failed to establish that the acts occurred in different locati…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Castro v. State, 389 So. 3d 633 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025)
- Fogle v. State, 754 So. 2d 878 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)
- Kirby Lee Casselman v. State, 761 So. 2d 482 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)
- Stanley v. State, 733 So. 2d 559 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)
- Damien v. State, 743 So. 2d 611 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)
- Bright v. State, 760 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)
- Brown v. State, 754 So. 2d 124 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000)