BERNARD LETRELL ASH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2016-07-01
No. 5D15-4246
LAWSON, C.J., LAMBERT and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.
200 So. 3d 183 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2016)

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Synopsis

Bernard Ash appeals his conviction for selling a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a public housing facility. The trial court denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, and the appellate court affirmed, holding that the State presented sufficient evidence that the property was a statutorily-defined public housing facility.


Holding

The appellate court held that the State presented sufficient evidence to withstand Ash's motion for judgment of acquittal. The testimony from the PHA employee that the property was owned by PHA, a governmental entity providing low-income housing, was sufficient to prove the location element, even though the witness could not testify with confidence about PHA's detailed incorporation history.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's ruling on a motion for a judgment of acquittal is reviewed de novo.

[2] Sufficient evidence exists to withstand a motion for judgment of acquittal when a rational trier of fact could find the existence of each element of the charged crime bey…

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Key Quotes

“Sufficient evidence exists to withstand a defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal when, viewing all evidence in the light most favorable to the state, a rational trier of fact could find the existence of each element of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Establishes the legal standard for reviewing motions for judgment of acquittal

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Facts & Procedural History

Ash was charged with selling a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a public housing facility. The State presented evidence through a 26-year empl…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Bernard Letrell Ash appeals his conviction for the sale of a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a public housing facility. He argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquit*184tal because the State did not prove that the property near which he sold the controlled substance was a public housing facility, citing Luther v. State, 68 So.3d 384, 385 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011). Although the appellant in Luther successfully raised the same issue on appeal, the Luther opinion is of little precedential value because it did not discuss in any detail the evidence presented at that trial. In this case, however, we agree with the trial judge that the State presented sufficient evidence from which the jury could find that Ash sold drugs within 1000 feet of a statutorily-defined public housing facility. Accordingly, we affirm.

We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion for a judgment of acquittal de novo. Pagan v. State, 830 So.2d 792, 803 (Fla.2002). Sufficient evidence exists to withstand a defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal when, viewing all evidence in the light most favorable to the state, a rational trier of fact could find the existence of each element of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

Section 893.13(l)(f), Florida Statutes (defining the charged crime) provides:

[A] person may not sell, manufacture, or deliver, or possess with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver, a controlled substance in, on, or within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising a public housing facility at any time. As used in this section, the term “real property comprising a public housing facility” means real property, as defined in s. 421.03(12), of a public corporation created as a housing authority pursuant to part I of chapter 421.

§ 893.13a)©, Fla. Stat. (2013). The jury in this case was properly instructed with respect to the location element, consistent with the standard jury instruction, that it must find beyond a reasonable doubt that: “The sale took place in, on, or within 1000 feet of the real property comprising a pub-lie housing facility.” For proof of this element, the State called a twenty-six-year employee of the Palatka Housing Authority (PHA), who testified that the drug sale took place approximately 150 feet from a public housing facility owned by PHA. He explained that PHA was a. “government entity” established through the City of Pa-latka to provide “low-income housing” in the city. The witness testified that he knew the location of all 441 units operated by PHA in Palatka. The State then showed the witness a surveillance video of the drug transaction that had already been admitted into evidence. The witness testified that the red brick buildings seen in the video were “Palatka Housing Authority properties,” and that the drug sale captured in the video took place less than 150 feet from the public housing units. This evidence was clearly sufficient to withstand Ash’s motion for judgment of acquittal as to the location element.

Ash’s argument at trial and on appeal focuses on the fact that this witness, the maintenance director for PHA, when questioned in cross-examination, was unable to testify with confidence about the details of how PHA was formed in the 1960s, and initially said, “I don’t know” in response to a question about whether PHA was “a public or private corporation.” However, the State was not required to prove PHA’s incorporation history. The witness knew, and had already testified to the fact that he worked for the public housing authority, a governmental entity owned the property at issue. That was sufficient.

AFFIRMED.

LAWSON, C.J., LAMBERT and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.


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