DERRICK JAMES HAYWOOD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2014-10-10
No. 5D09-4217
SAWAYA, LAWSON, and COHEN, JJ„ concur.
148 So. 3d 525 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2014)

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Holding

A trial court's failure to instruct the jury that it cannot return a guilty verdict on both dealing in stolen property and theft for the same scheme or course of conduct is not harmless error when requested.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court has an obligation to instruct the jury on the prohibition against convicting a defendant of both dealing in stolen property and theft of the same property w…

[2] A defendant is entitled to a new trial when the jury is not properly instructed that it cannot find the defendant guilty of both dealing in stolen property and theft in c…

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Facts & Procedural History

Defendant was charged with dealing in stolen property and grand theft. The trial court denied a special jury instruction clarifying that the jury coul…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

ON REMAND FROM THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

PER CURIAM.

This case was remanded by the Florida Supreme Court to this court for reconsideration of our prior opinion, Haywood v. State, 73 So.3d 824 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011), in light of the supreme court’s holdings in Blackmon v. State, 121 So.3d 535 (Fla.2013), and Williams v. State, 121 So.3d 524 (Fla.2013). Haywood v. State, No. SC11-2354, 2014 WL 4413043 (Fla. Sept. 8, 2014).

Defendant was charged with dealing in stolen property, third-degree grand theft, and receiving money from a pawnbroker by false verification of ownership or identification. At trial, Defendant requested that the jury be given the following special jury instruction based on section 812.025, Florida Statutes (2009):

Defendant is charged in count one of the information with Dealing in Stolen Property (trafficking) and in count two of the information with Grand Theft. “... the trier of fact may return a guilty verdict on one or the other, but not both, of the counts.”

The trial court denied the instruction on the ground that it would have a tendency to mislead the jury as to what counts of the Information it should consider and advised that, should the jury return a verdict of guilty on both the dealing in stolen property and grand theft counts, it would deal with the issue at that time. When the jury found Defendant guilty as charged of all counts, the trial court’s solution was to not adjudicate Defendant of the lesser offense (grand theft). In light of Williams, this was error.

Section 812.025 is clear that the trier of fact cannot find a defendant guilty of both dealing in stolen property and the theft of that same property:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a single indictment or information may, under proper circumstances, charge theft and dealing in stolen property in connection with one scheme or course of conduct in separate counts that may be consolidated for trial, but the trier of fact may return a guilty verdict on one or the other, but not both, of the counts.

§ 812.025, Fla. Stat. (2009). Although the standard jury instruction in effect at that time failed to inform the jury that it could not find a defendant guilty of both dealing in stolen property and theft in connection with one scheme or course of conduct,1 “trial courts have an obligation to instruct the jury on section 812.025 when both theft and dealing in stolen property counts are *527submitted to the jury.” Williams, 121 So.3d at 531. Defendant unsuccessfully requested such an instruction, thereby placing the burden on the State to prove the error in denying the request was harmless. Id. at 534. The State has not met its burden in this case.

Our review of the record shows that the items taken from the victim of the grand theft are the same items Defendant pawned, thus fulfilling the nexus requirement that the offenses were in connection with one scheme or course of conduct. As Defendant asserts, had the jury been properly instructed, it may have found Defendant guilty of only the lesser offense, grand theft. Hence, the error in not giving the requested instruction cannot be deemed harmless. Accordingly, Defendant is entitled to a new trial on the charges of dealing in stolen property and grand theft.

REVERSED and REMANDED for a new trial.

SAWAYA, LAWSON, and COHEN, JJ„ concur.


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