RONALD NESBITT, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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.
The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict among district courts regarding whether a conviction for a lesser included offense not adequately charged in the information constitutes fundamental error requiring reversal regardless of whether defense counsel objected at trial. The Court held that the error is not fundamental when the lesser offense is lower in degree and penalty than the charged offense and defense counsel had an opportunity to object but failed to do so.
The error of convicting a defendant of a lesser included offense not properly alleged in the charging document is not fundamental error when: (1) the improperly charged offense is lesser in degree and penalty than the main offense, or (2) defense counsel requested the improper charge or relied on it. Because Nesbitt was convicted of aggravated assault (a third-degree felony) rather than the charged attempted second-degree murder (a first-degree felony), and defense counsel failed to object, the error was not fundamental.
[1] A conviction for a lesser included offense that is not sufficiently charged in the charging document constitutes fundamental error, requiring reversal even if not preserv…
[2] The fundamental error doctrine should be applied only in rare cases where a jurisdictional error appears or where the interests of justice present a compelling demand for…
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“it is not fundamental error to convict a defendant under an erroneous lesser included charge when he had an opportunity to object to the charge and failed to do so if: 1) the improperly charged offense is lesser in degree and penalty than the main offense or 2) defense counsel requested the improper charge or relied on that charge as evidenced by argument to the jury or other affirmative action.”
The standard from Ray v. State for determining when failure to object to a lesser included offense instruction results in waiver rather than fundamental error.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRonald Nesbitt repeatedly stunned his wife with a stun gun during an argument, causing welts and blisters, and placed a pillow over her face. His wife…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Charging Document Requirements cases and more on FLexlaw
QUINCE, J.
We have for review the decision in Nesbitt v. State, 819 So. 2d 993 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002), which certified conflict with the decisions in Levesque v. State, 778 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), and Mateo v. State, 757 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000).1 We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons stated below, we approve the decision of the Fifth District. FACTS
During an argument with is wife, Ronald Nesbitt (Nesbitt) got his stun gun and repeatedly stunned her, causing welts and blisters. At one point, Nesbitt placed a pillow over his wife’s face. Mrs. Nesbitt escaped to a neighbor’s house and called the police. See Nesbitt v. State, 819 So. 2d 993, 994 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002). Nesbitt was charged by information with attempted second-degree murder with a weapon and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was convicted of battery and aggravated assault by use of a deadly weapon.2
Nesbitt appealed his convictions. He argued that the jury was erroneously instructed on the crime of aggravated assault because that crime requires a finding that a “deadly” weapon was used, and the information alleged only that a “weapon” was used. The Fifth District Court of Appeal agreed that the jury instruction was erroneous; however, because defense counsel failed to object to the jury instruction, the court held that the issue had been waived. The Fifth District’s decision conflicts with Levesque, which holds that a conviction for a lesser offense not sufficiently charged in the charging document is fundamental error and need not be preserved for appeal. See, e.g., Levesque v. State, 778 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Mateo v. State, 757 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). The Fifth District distinguished Levesque because it involved a bench trial, not a jury trial, and the defendant did not have an opportunity to object to the trier of fact’s consideration of inappropriate lesser offenses.
LAW AND ANALYSIS
The Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that the mens rea element of a specific intent crime must be alleged in the charging document. Specifically, the Fourth District has held that the failure to allege the element of “intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm” in the charging document for a charge of second-degree murder prevents the jury from finding the lesser offense of aggravated battery. See Levesque, 778 So. 2d at 1049. “Intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm” is not an element of second-degree murder, a general intent crime, but it is an element of aggravated battery, a specific intent crime. Because aggravated battery is a specific intent crime, the Fourth District required that the mens rea element of “intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm” be alleged in the charging document. That element was not charged; therefore, the Fourth District reversed the conviction, finding that “it is fundamental error for a person to be convicted of an offense not charged in the information.” Id. at 1051.
Levesque is representative of other cases holding that a charging document must' contain every element of a lesser included offense in order to convict a defendant of that lesser included offense, and failure to charge an element of the lesser offense constitutes fundamental error. The district court in Levesque did not, however, discuss this Court’s opinion in Ray v. State, 403 So. 2d 956 (Fla.1981), or Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.390(d).
This Court has held that the fundamental error doctrine should be applied “only in the rare cases where a jurisdictional error appears or where the interests of justice present a compelling demand for its application.” Ray, 403 So. 2d at 960. In Ray this Court observed that in most cases where the district courts affirm a conviction of a lesser offense, defense counsel’s “failure to object has been coupled with affirmative acts either seeking or acquiescing in the erroneous instructions.” Id. at 961. Thus, “it is not fundamental error to convict a defendant under an erroneous lesser included charge when he had an opportunity to object to the charge and failed to do so if: 1) the improperly charged offense is lesser in degree and penalty than the main offense or 2) defense counsel requested the improper charge or relied on that charge as evidenced by argument to the jury or other affirmative action.” Id. (footnote omitted). Other district courts have followed Ray in holding that when a trial court erroneously instructs the jury on a permissible lesser included offense, the error is not fundamental and a contemporaneous objection is necessary to preserve the error for review. See, e.g., Herise v. State, 763 So. 2d 393 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000); Tolbert v. State, 679 So. 2d 816 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).
Moreover, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.390(d) makes it clear that a party must object to the giving or the failure to give a jury instruction in order to preserve that issue for appellate review. Rule 3.390(d) provides:
(d) Objections. No party may raise on appeal the giving or failure to give an instruction unless the party objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which the party objects and the grounds of the objection. Opportunity shall be given to make the objection out of the presence of the jury.
See, e.g., State v. Smith, 240 So. 2d 807 (Fla.1970); Benton v. State, 650 So. 2d 688 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).
In this case, the trial court proposed the jury instructions and both the prosecutor and defense counsel agreed to them. Defense counsel had the opportunity to object and did not do so. Therefore, in accord with the test set forth in Ray, we next determine if: (1) the improperly charged offense is lesser in degree and penalty than the main offense, or (2) defense counsel requested the improper charge or relied on it. If either situation exists, then the error is not fundamental. See Ray, 403 So. 2d at 961.
The conviction of aggravated assault meets the first alternative. Nesbitt was charged with attempted second-degree murder with a weapon, but convicted of aggravated assault. Attempted second-degree murder with a weapon is a first-degree felony punishable by up to thirty years in prison. See §§ 775.082(3)(b), 777.04(1), 782.04(2), Fla. Stat. (2002). Aggravated assault is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. See §§ 775.082(3)(d), 784.021(2), Fla. Stat. (2002). In this case, defense counsel did not object to the instruction given on aggravated assault, and aggravated assault is lesser in degree and lesser in penalty to the charged offense, attempted second-degree murder with a weapon.
Thus, in accord with this Court’s decision in Ray, the error is not fundamental.3 We therefore approve the Fifth District’s decision in this case and disapprove Levesque to the extent that it is inconsistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
PARIENTE, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, LEWIS, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur. . We limit our discussion to, the certified conflict with Levesque because the Second District Court of Appeal has receded from its decision in Mateo v. State, 757 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). See Chambers v. State, 880 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004).
. “An 'aggravated assault' is an assault: (a) [w]ith a deadly weapon without intent to kill; or (b) [w]ith an intent to commit a felony." See § 784.021, Fla. Stat. (2002).
. We do not address the other claims raised by the parties; however, our decision is without prejudice to the petitioner to pursue post-conviction proceedings for any ineffective assistance of counsel claim that may exist.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (15 total)
-
Joyner v. State, 41 So. 3d 306 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…Salonko v. State, 42 So. 3d 801, 803. The fundamental error doctrine is to be applied “only in the rare cases where a jurisdictional error appears or where the interests of justice present a compelling demand for its application.” Nesbitt v. State, 889 So. 2d 801, 803 (Fla. 2004): Martinez v. State, 981 So. 2d 449, 455 (Fla.2008). To determine whether an instruction error “vitiated the ‘validity of the trial,’ courts conduct a totality of the circumstances analysis.” Croom v. State, 36 So. 3d 707, 709 (Fla.…
-
Sanders v. State, 912 So. 2d 1286 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)…same manner as lesser offenses when preparing verdict forms. The supreme court has continued to rely on the “degree and penalty” test for determining fundamental error even after the law of sentencing has become very complex. See Nesbitt v. State, 889 So. 2d 801, 802-03 (Fla.2004). In this case, we are holding that an offense is lesser in “penalty” not only when the conviction for the lesser offense is guaranteed to result in a lesser penalty, but also when it will give the trial judge discretion to impose…
-
Blandin v. State, 916 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)…ed this third degree felony to a second degree felony, punishable up to fifteen years incarceration, while the same statute reclassifies the attempted second degree murder to a first degree felony punishable up to thirty years. See Nesbitt v. State, 889 So. 2d 801, 803 (Fla.2004). Thus, even with the imposition of a twenty-year minimum mandatory sentence under section 775.087(1), pursuant to the 10/20/Life Act, attempted second degree murder, which carries a thirty year sentence, would provide a greater punis…
Previewing 3 of 15 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- RAY v. State, 403 So. 2d 956 (Fla. 1981)
- State v. Smith, 240 So. 2d 807 (Fla. 1970)
- Potter v. State, 679 So. 2d 816 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Kem Mateo v. State, 757 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Nesbitt v. State, 819 So. 2d 993 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)
- Chambers v. State, 880 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
- King v. State, 778 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
- Herise v. State, 763 So. 2d 393 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)
- Benton v. State, 650 So. 2d 688 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)