JOHN DIXON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The appellate court reversed one conviction for resisting an officer with violence, finding that the defendant's actions constituted a single continuous episode of obstruction, but affirmed other convictions.
The court held that the defendant committed only one continuous episode of resisting an officer with violence, as defined by Florida law, and reversed one of the two convictions for that offense.
[1] A continuous resistance to an ongoing attempt to effect an arrest constitutes a single episode of obstruction.
[2] When determining whether multiple offenses form a single episode, courts consider whether separate victims are involved, whether the crimes occurred in separate locations…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant attempted to evade capture by police, leading to multiple struggles with officers. During these encounters, the defendant resisted arres…
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DAVIS, Judge.
John Dixon challenges his convictions of two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts of obstructing a law enforcement officer with violence, one count of attempted aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, one count of depriving a police officer of his weapon, and one count of depriving a police officer of his means to summons assistance. All of these charges arose from Dixon’s attempt to avoid capture by police officers. We reverse in part and affirm in part.
Responding to an early morning alarm, officers discovered that two adjoining businesses had been burglarized. The first officer to arrive noticed Dixon on a bicycle nearby and attempted to detain him. Dixon began to flee, and the officer followed. When the officer caught up with Dixon, a struggle ensued. During this encounter, Dixon (1) struck the officer; (2) wrestled with the officer over the officer’s gun; (3) prevented the officer from calling for help over his radio; (4) took the officer’s pepper spray from the officer’s belt and sprayed the officer in the face; and (5) threatened to shoot the officer with his own service revolver. When the second officer arrived on the scene with his canine, Dixon again began to flee, running through streets and yards. The canine officer deployed his dog, who tracked Dixon into a retention pond. A third officer arrived and entered the pond from the other side. As this third officer reached Dixon, another struggle ensued. It was not until a fourth officer arrived that the officers were able to subdue and handcuff Dixon.
Dixon argues that, based on these events, the trial court erred in adjudicating him guilty of two counts of resisting an officer with violence. He maintains that this was one continuous episode of obstruction under section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1999); We agree. Pursuant to Wallace v. State, 724 So. 2d 1176, 1181 (Fla.1998), it is apparent that Dixon committed one “continuous resistance to an ongoing attempt to effect his arrest,” which constitutes one single episode of obstruction.
In Vasquez v. State, 778 So. 2d 1068, 1070 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), the Fifth District established the following three-part test for determining whether multiple offenses form a single episode: “1) whether separate victims are involved; 2) whether the crimes occurred in separate locations; and 3) whether there has been a temporal break between the incidents.” Here, although there were separate victims and separate locations, there was no temporal break between the incidents. The officers never stopped trying to capture Dixon, and Dixon never stopped trying to avoid capture. During the sequence of events, Dixon was never subdued. His resistance was continuous. Under these facts, the trial court erred in adjudicating Dixon-guilty of two counts of resisting with violence.
Accordingly, we reverse one conviction of resisting a law enforcement officer with violence.
Next, Dixon argues that the trial court erred in adjudicating and sentencing him for both attempted aggravated battery and simple battery on the same officer. There is no merit in this argument, however, because the attempted aggravated battery conviction was a lesser included offense of attempted first-degree murder and was based on Dixon’s use of a deadly weapon. The simple battery charge did not allege the use of a deadly weapon.
Furthermore, these convictions resulted from different acts. In the first, Dixon threatened to shoot the first officer with his service revolver; in the second, Dixon punched the officer in the face. This was not simply a case of multiple blows; this involved different offenses and different elements of proof.
Accordingly, we affirm the convictions for attempted aggravated battery and battery on the same officer.
However, Dixon also argues, and the State concedes, that the trial court erred in enhancing the attempted aggravated battery from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony. The law enforcement enhancement prescribed by section 784.07(2), Florida Statutes (1999), does not apply to attempted aggravated battery because the statute does not include attempted aggravated battery as one of the enumerated offenses to which reclassification applies. We therefore vacate the enhancement and reverse the fifteen-year sentence and direct the trial court to resentence Dixon on the attempted aggravated battery conviction.
Finally, we find fundamental, reversible error in the jury instructions regarding the two charges of battery on a law enforcement officer. Dixon was charged with battery on two separate officers. Each count of the information alleged that Dixon intentionally touched or struck a named officer. At trial, the jury was instructed that it could convict Dixon if he either intentionally touched or struck the officer or caused, him bodily harm. The jury’s verdict on each charge was a general one, finding Dixon guilty of battery on a law enforcement officer without specifying the basis for the convictions.
Pursuant to Zwick v. State, 730 So. 2d 759 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), a defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed on the offense with which he is charged. Here, the jury was improperly instructed on the bodily harm form of battery although Dixon was not charged with that form of battery. See Hendricks v. State, 744 So. 2d 542 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). This error is fundamental because the jury’s general verdict makes it impossible to know whether Dixon was convicted of the offense with which he was charged, i.e., intentional touching battery, or an offense with which he was not charged, i.e., bodily harm battery. See O’Bryan v. State, 692 So. 2d 290 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).
Accordingly, we reverse Dixon’s convictions for two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and remand for a new trial on these charges.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
PARKER, A.C.J., and SALCINES, J., Concur.
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Cited By (13 total)
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State v. Weaver, 957 So. 2d 586 (Fla. 2007)…eaver, 916 So. 2d at 896 (quoting trial court’s instruction). The jury found Weaver guilty. The Second District Court of Appeal reversed. The court applied its prior decisions in Vega v. State, 900 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), and Dixon v. State, 823 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), both of which involved nearly identical circumstances, to hold that the trial court’s erroneous instruction constituted fundamental error. In both Vega and Dixon the defendants were charged by information only with intentionally…1 / 2
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Aniceto Jaimes v. State, 51 So. 3d 445 (Fla. 2010)…e jury found Weaver guilty of battery. However, the verdict did not specify whether the conviction was based on the charged or uncharged form of the offense. See id. On appeal, the Second District, applying its previous decisions in Dixon v. State, 823 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), and [*450] Vega v. State, 900 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), reversed the conviction. In Dixon, as in Weaver, the jury was instructed on an uncharged alternative form of battery on a law enforcement officer. The jury then returne…
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Sanders v. State, 959 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)…ng the basis for the conviction, making it impossible to know whether Vega was convicted of the form of battery with which he was charged rather than the form with which he was not charged.” Id. This court reached a similar result in Dixon v. State, 823 So. 2d 792, 794 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), disapproved in part by Weaver, $57 So. 2d 586, wherein we reversed Dixon’s convictions for battery on a law enforcement officer. In Weaver v. State, 916 So. 2d 895, 898 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), quashed, 957 So. 2d 586, this cour…
Previewing 3 of 13 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)
- Elliott Vasquez v. State, 778 So. 2d 1068 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)
- Watts v. State, 730 So. 2d 759 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
- Boca Raton Small Engines & Emp'rs Self Ins. Fund v. Bellak, 692 So. 2d 290 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)
- Hendricks v. State, 744 So. 2d 542 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)