STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
SCOTT ALAN CRAYCRAFT, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2002-04-10
No. 1D01-1327
WEBSTER and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
817 So. 2d 864 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2002) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 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

The State appealed the trial court's dismissal of felony charges against Craycraft for driving with a revoked license. The court reversed, holding that Huss v. State, which required a knowledge element for driving while license suspended convictions, did not apply to the felony statute charged (§ 322.34(5)), which contains no such requirement.


Holding

The court held that Huss was erroneously applied because § 322.34(5) does not require proof of knowledge as an element of the offense, unlike § 322.34(2) which was addressed in Huss. Therefore, prior convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license may be used to establish habitual offender status under § 322.34(5) regardless of when they occurred.


Headnotes

[1] A circuit court has subject matter jurisdiction over felony charges.

[2] A trial court does not err by reviewing a criminal charge that may implicitly involve the findings of an administrative agency, as long as the court is not directly overt…

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“At the time appellant received the prior convictions, the statute did not require proof of 'knowledge' as an element of the offense, and thus, his prior convictions cannot be counted as 'convictions' under the 1997 provisions of section 322.34(2).”

Statement from Huss establishing the knowledge requirement added to § 322.34(2) in 1997, which the trial court mistakenly applied to § 322.34(5)

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Craycraft was charged with violating § 322.34(5) for driving with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender. Most of his prior convictions for …

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.

Opinion of the Court
POLSTON, J.

POLSTON, J.

Appellee Scott Alan Craycraft was charged with violating section 322.34(5), Florida Statutes (1999)(unlawfully driving a motor vehicle on a highway while his driver’s license had been revoked pursuant to § 322.264 (habitual offender)). It is undisputed that Appellee had previously received notice that his license had been revoked based on the administrative declaration that he was a habitual traffic offender pursuant to § 322.264, Fla. Stat. (1999).

Appellee filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him on the basis that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over him, claiming that in accordance with Huss v. State, 771 So. 2d 591 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), his convictions prior to October 1, 1997 for driving while his license was suspended could not be used to declare him a habitual traffic offender. The trial court granted his motion to dismiss, ruling that:

The First District’s decision in Huss is applicable to Section 322.264 and Section 322.34(5). Any convictions for Driving with a Suspended or Revoked License that occurred prior to October 1, 1997 lack the requisite knowledge element. Therefore, under Huss, these convictions may not be used to classify an individual as a habitual traffic offender, and accordingly may not be used to support a charge under Section 322.264 and 322.34(5).

Because all but one of Appellee’s prior convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license occurred prior to October 1, 1997, the trial court ruled that none of those charges may be used to enhance his charge to a felony pursuant' to sections 322.264 and 322.34(5), and dismissed the case.

Appellant State of Florida argues on appeal that the trial court erred because (i) it did not have subject matter jurisdiction, and (ii) Huss was erroneously applied to offenses charged under section 322.34(5). Because we agree with the State that Huss was erroneously applied, we reverse.

I.

The State argues that Appellee did not file a notice of appeal seeking a review of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle’s final order classifying Ap-pellee as a habitual traffic offender, and therefore the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to review the administrative agency’s order implicit in its dismissal of the subsequent felony offense.

We agree with Appellee that the trial court had subject matter jurisdiction because it did not overturn the findings of an administrative agency. Appellee was charged with violating section 322.34(5), Florida Statutes (1999), a third degree felony. Therefore, the circuit court has subject matter jurisdiction. See § 26.012(2)(d), Fla. Stat. (1999)(circuit courts have exclusive original jurisdiction of all felonies).

II.

In Huss, this Court reversed the conviction of felony driving while license suspended, in violation of section 322.34(2), Florida Statutes (Supp.1998), which states: “Any person whose driver’s license or driving privilege has been canceled, suspended, or revoked as provided by law, except persons defined in s. 322.264, who, knowing of such cancellation, suspension, or revocation, drives any motor vehicle upon the highways of this state while such license or privilege is canceled, suspended, or revoked,.... ” 771 So. 2d at 591-92 (emphasis added).

The Court noted that section 322.34(2) was changed, effective October 1, 1997, to add the element of knowledge to the proof required for conviction thereunder, and stated that “[a]t the time appellant received the prior convictions, the statute did not require proof of ‘knowledge’ as an element of the offense, and thus, his prior convictions cannot be counted as ‘convictions’ under the 1997 provisions of section 322.34(2).” Id. at 592-93.

However, Appellee was charged with violating section 322.34(5) rather than section 322.34(2), and section 322.34(5) does not require the element of knowledge for conviction thereunder. Therefore, Huss is not applicable.

REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.

WEBSTER and LEWIS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Serra v. State, 835 So. 2d 1277 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
    …PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See State v. Craycraft, 817 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). SHAHOOD, TAYLOR, JJ., and FLEET, J. LEONARD, Associate Judge, concur.…
  • O'Quinn v. State, 860 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
    …record establishes that his prior convictions did occur prior to 1997. Although this Court has never explicitly adopted the holding of Huss, Huss was the controlling law in Florida when O’Quinn pled and was sentenced. See e.g., State v. Craycraft, 817 So. 2d 864, 864-65 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). Since O’Quinn pled [*1022] guilty to a felony when the offense could not be classified as a felony, we are bound to conclude that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to be aware of Huss and to counsel his client abo…
  • Melvin v. State, 837 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
    …PER CURIAM. We affirm Appellant’s conviction and sentence for driving while her license was revoked as a habitual offender, contrary to section 322.34(5), see State v. Craycraft, 817 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002); Serra v. State, 835 So. 2d 1277 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003), but remand for the trial court to correct the disposition order and the adjudication withheld order to reflect that Appellant entered a no contest plea, not a guilty plea. P…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw