GARY W. MOORE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2008-10-03
No. 5D07-3372
ORFINGER and TORPY, JJ., concur.
992 So. 2d 862 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2008) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

Gary Moore was convicted of failure to register as a sexual offender under Florida law. The appellate court affirmed his conviction despite the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the correct statutory theory (that Moore was required to register because he was designated a sexual offender in Michigan), finding no fundamental error because Moore did not dispute this element.


Holding

The court affirmed, holding that although the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the applicable theory (Florida Statute § 943.0435(2) — that Moore was required to register because he was designated a sexual offender in Michigan), fundamental error did not occur because Moore did not dispute this essential element and only contested whether his registration obligation arose from the 1986 Michigan conviction.


Headnotes

[1] A criminal information referencing a specific statute is sufficient to allege the elements of an offense, even if the information itself does not fully detail those eleme…

[2] A defendant is a "sexual offender" under Florida law if they have been designated as such in another state and were subjected to registration as a result of that designat…

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Key Quotes

“Where an offense may be committed in various ways, the evidence must establish that it was committed in the manner charged.”

Establishes the principle that when a crime has multiple statutory paths to conviction, the State must prove one of those paths, and the manner of proof must match the allegations or jury instructions.

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Facts & Procedural History

Moore was convicted of failing to register as a sexual offender in Florida. He had been convicted of criminal sexual conduct in Michigan in 1986. The …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

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Opinion of the Court
PLEUS, J.

PLEUS, J.

Moore challenges his conviction for failure to register as a sexual offender, arguing that the State did not prove this crime in the manner alleged and instructed to the jury. We conclude that the information allowed the State to prove the “sexual offender” under three theories, one of which was supported by prima facie evidence. Although the court failed to instruct the jury on this theory, fundamental error did not occur because Moore did not dispute the theory. Accordingly, we affirm.

Section 943.0435, Florida Statutes (2006), provides three ways for the State to establish that a defendant is a “sexual offender.” First, a defendant is a sexual offender if he “[h]as been convicted of [an enumerated offense] in this state or similar offenses in another jurisdiction,” and “[h]as been released on or after October 1, 1997, from the sanction imposed for [that offense].” § 943.0435(l)(a) Fla. Stat. (2006).

Second, a defendant is a sexual offender if he “has been designated as a ... sexual offender ... in another state or jurisdiction and was, as a result of such designation, subjected to registration....” § 943.0435(2) Fla. Stat. (2006).

Third, a defendant is a sexual offender if he “[e]s-tablishes or maintains a residence in this state [while] in the custody or control of, or under the supervision of, any other state or jurisdiction as a result of a conviction for [an enumerated offense] or similar offense in another jurisdiction.” § 943.0435(3) Fla. Stat. (2006).

Where an offense may be committed in various ways, the evidence must establish that it was committed in the manner charged. Marra v. State, 970 So. 2d 475, 476-77 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) (quoting Long v. State, 92 So. 2d 259, 260 (Fla.1957)). The information alleged, in pertinent part, that Moore did, “after having been convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct, on 5/19/1986 knowingly and unlawfully fail to comply with the requirements of Florida statute 943.0435, to wit: by failing to register....” Based on this allegation, Moore argues that the State was limited to proving that he was a sexual offender only under subsection 943.0435(l)(a), not under subsections 943.0435(2) and (3).

However, without additional allegations, the phrase “after having been convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct, on 5/19/1986,” could support any of the three ways to establish a sexual offender under the statute. Specifically, to establish a sexual offender under subsection 943.0435(l)(a), the State would have had to allege that criminal sexual conduct was similar to an enumerated Florida offense and that Moore was released from the sanction for that offense on or after October 1, 1997. To establish that Moore was a sexual offender under subsection 943.0435(2), the State would have had to allege that because of the 1986 conviction, Moore was required to register as a sexual offender in Michigan. Or, to prove that Moore was a sexual offender under subsection 943.0435(3), the State would have had to allege that the 1986 conviction for criminal sexual conduct was similar to an enumerated Florida offense and that Moore was still under Michigan supervision for that offense.

Thus, the contested phrase failed to sufficiently allege the “sexual offender” element of the crime.

Even if an information fails to allege the essential elements of a crime, it is sufficient if it references specific sections of the criminal code detailing all the elements of the offense. DuBoise v. State, 520 So. 2d 260, 265 (Fla.1988); see also Wesby v. State, 966 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (applying the above rule in a failure to register as a sex offender case). Consequently, the State’s citation to section 943.0435 was sufficient to allow it to prove Moore was a sexual offender under any of the three theories provided in that statute.

During his motion for judgment of acquittal, Moore correctly argued that the State had failed to prove that he was a sexual offender by virtue of his 1986 Michigan conviction for criminal sexual misconduct. The State presented no evidence that this crime was similar to an enumerated Florida crime or that Moore was released on or after October 1, 1997, from the sanction imposed for that offense. § 943.0435(1), Fla. Stat.; compare Turner v. State, 937 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (affirming conviction for failure to register based on Minnesota conviction for offense comparable to an enumerated Florida offense); Carter v. State, 937 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (noting that defendant’s Texas conviction was for an offense “virtually identical” to an enumerated Florida offense, thus requiring him to register in Florida).

Nor did the State prove that Moore was still under Michigan supervision for that offense. § 943.0435(3), Fla. Stat.

However, the State did prove that Moore was required to register as a sexual offender in Michigan, which satisfied the “sexual offender” element under subsection 943.0435(2), Florida Statutes. Because the information referenced the statute and the State presented prima facie evidence of one of the theories enumerated in the statute, the trial court properly denied the motion for judgment of acquittal.

At the close of evidence, the State submitted faulty jury instructions to the court, which gave the instructions as submitted, without objection. The instructions on the elements of the crime defined a “sexual offender” only under subsection 943.0435(1), not under subsections (2) or (3). Consequently, the State failed to prove the crime in the manner instructed.

Because Moore failed to object to the instructions on the ground raised here, he must establish fundamental error to obtain reversal. Fundamental error in this context occurs “only when the omission is pertinent or material to what the jury must consider in order to convict.” Wright v. State, 975 So. 2d 498, 499 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007) (quoting State v. Delva, 575 So. 2d 643, 644-45 (Fla.1991)). “Failing to instruct on an element of the crime over which the record reflects there was no dispute is not fundamental error....” Id. (quoting State v. Weaver, 957 So. 2d 586, 588 (Fla.2007)).

Although Moore disputed the issue of whether he was required to register in Florida because of his 1986 Michigan conviction, he did not dispute the fact that he was required to register in Florida because he was required to register in Michigan. Moore objected to the admissibility of two forms demonstrating that he was required to register in Michigan, but only on the ground that they did not prove he was required to register because of the 1986 conviction and therefore were not relevant to the crime charged.

The trial court admitted the documents after the State argued that it could prove the crime by showing that he was required to register in Michigan. Moore never contested the fact that he was required to register in Michigan. He only contested the fact that he was required to register in Florida because of the 1986 conviction in Michigan.

Thus, although the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury on this element, fundamental error did not occur because Moore did not dispute the element. Wright.

AFFIRMED.

ORFINGER and TORPY, JJ., concur.


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Cited By

  • Jershun v. State, 169 So. 3d 232 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …o their underlying facts. Dautel v. State, 658 So. 2d 88, 90-91 (Fla.1995). The evidence here against the defendant was insufficient to establish that the foreign military offenses were similar to any enumerated Florida offenses. In Moore v. State, 992 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008), the defendant was charged with failing to register as a sexual offender “after having been convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct, on 5/19/1986” in Michigan. Id. at 863-64. “The State presented no evidence that his crime was simil…
  • FOX v. State, 137 So. 3d 1048 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)
    …ex Offenders Registration Act, and he would be required to register if he lived there today. See § 28.725(3). Thus, Mr. Fox is required to register as a sexual offender under section 943.0435(l)(a)(l)(b), Florida Statutes (2011). See Moore v. State, 992 So. 2d 862, 864 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008) (holding proof that a defendant was required to register as a sex offender in Michigan satisfied the sexual offender element of section 943.0435). Because Mr. Fox is required to register as a sexual offender under section 9…

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