KENTA S. HILL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Kenta S. Hill was convicted of selling controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a place of worship. The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed his conviction because the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the referenced church regularly conducted religious services, which is a statutory element of the enhanced offense.
The State failed to sufficiently prove the statutory element that the church regularly conducted religious services. The arresting officer's vague testimony that the church had 'church services' as a 'place of worship' was insufficient because he never attended or observed services and offered no testimony about how regularly services occurred. Accordingly, the conviction for the enhanced offense was reversed and the case was remanded for entry of judgment on the lesser included offense of principal to sale or delivery of a controlled substance.
[1] A conviction for selling a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a place of worship requires proof that religious services are regularly conducted at the place of wor…
[2] Testimony that services "go on" at a church is insufficient to establish that religious services are regularly conducted there.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“We agree that the State failed to sufficiently prove this statutory element beyond a reasonable doubt. Clay testified that he was aware that the church had "church services" as a "place of worship." However, Clay never attended or observed services at the church, and offered no testimony as to how regularly these "church-services" occurred. Thus, Clay's testimony failed to establish that the church regularly conducted religious services.”
The court's core holding that the prosecution failed to prove the 'regularly conducts' requirement of the enhanced offense statute.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn April 4th, a narcotics purchase took place at 404 South Delaware in DeLand. The arresting officer, Daniel Clay, testified that this location was ap…
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Kenta S. Hill appeals his conviction of principal to sale and delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a place of worship pursuant to sections 893.13(l)(e) and 777.011, Florida Statutes (2001). Because we find that the State failed to sufficiently prove one of the statutory elements of the offense, we reverse Hill’s conviction and remand the matter for the entry of a judgment for the lesser included offense of principal to sale or delivery of a controlled substance.
On appeal, the sole issue is whether the State adequately proved that the drug transaction occurred within 1,000 feet of a place of worship at which regularly conducted religious services were held. The testimony at trial by the arresting officer, Daniel Clay, was as follows:
Q And were you the case agent for a narcotics purchase that took place at 404 South Delaware in DeLand on April 4th? A Yes. Q Do you have personal knowledge as to whether 404 South Delaware is within a thousand feet of a place of worship? A Yes, it is. Q Can you tell the jury what place of worship you’re referring to. A It’s Royal Temple Free M.E. Church. Q Okay. And do you have personal knowledge of the distance between 404 South Delaware and that church? A Yes, I do. Q What is that distance? A It’s approximately, from the front door of the church to the front door of that residence is approximately 690 feet. Q And do you have personal knowledge as to whether or not that church is, back in April was — had church services? A Yes, it did. Q As a place of worship? A Yes, it did. * * * Q You’ve attended this church? A No, I have not. Q Been inside it? A Yes, I have. Q During church services? A Not actual church services. They were doing something for the children that night. Q You’ve never been present when religious services were ongoing; is that correct? A Actually inside for the service, no, sir. The State introduced no other evidence regarding this element of the crime. Hill argues, as he did below, that the foregoing testimony was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the drug transaction occurred “within 1,000 feet of a physical place for worship at which a church or religious organization regularly conducts religious services,” as required by section 893.13(l)(e).
We agree that the State failed to sufficiently prove this statutory element beyond a reasonable doubt. Clay testified that he was aware that the church had “church services” as a “place of worship.” However, Clay never attended or observed services at the church, and offered no testimony as to how regularly these “church-services” occurred. Thus, Clay’s testimony failed to establish that the church regularly conducted religious services. See Wallace v. State, 814 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002) (holding that arresting officer’s testimony that he was aware that services “go on” in a church was insufficient). Like any element of an offense, this element must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. That was not done here.
For the foregoing reasons, we reverse Hill’s conviction and remand this matter for entry of a judgment and sentence for the lesser included offense of principal to sale or delivery of a controlled substance pursuant to sections 898.1S(l)(a)l. and 777.011, Florida Statutes (2001).
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
COBB and SHARP, W., JJ., concur.
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McHOLDER v. State, 917 So. 2d 1043 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)…or less of Salem Haitian Lutheran Church and that religious services were regularly conducted at the church was more than sufficient to overcome any vagueness challenge to the statute). The facts of this case are distinguishable from Hill v. State, 830 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), and Wallace v. State, 814 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), both relied on by McHolder. In Hill, the officer testified that he had personal knowledge that the church, located within 1,000 feet of where the drug transaction took p…
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Moore v. State, 18 So. 3d 715 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)…A 2006). Thus, it is not essential for the State to provide evidence from a church member or leader. Nevertheless, we conclude that this case is controlled by the decisions in Wallace v. State, 814 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), and Hill v. State, 830 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), in which the testimony of police officers was insufficient to establish this element of the offense. In the timeframe when the offense occurred, the officer in this case could not provide evidence that the church was regularly c…
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Jamarol D. Fletcher v. State, 168 So. 3d 330 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)…the offense. See Wilder v. State, 147 So. 3d 673 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014); Moore v. State, 18 So. 3d 715 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009); Wallace v. State, 814 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002). See also A.B. v. State, 150 So. 3d 883 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014); Hill v. State, 830 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002). Cf. McHolder v. State, 917 So. 2d 1043 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (holding the State sufficiently proved a sale occurred within 1,000 feet of a place of worship and that religious services were regularly conducted when the officer test…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Wallace v. State, 814 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)