G. E. NIX, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
G.E. Nix was convicted of perjury for allegedly submitting a false affidavit to obtain a search warrant and for giving false testimony in a subsequent prosecution. The First District Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction, rejecting Nix's arguments that the State failed to prove proper oath administration, that the Justice of the Peace lacked territorial jurisdiction, and that the State failed to prove Gadsden County was a 'dry' county.
The Court affirmed the conviction, holding: (1) the Justice of the Peace's testimony that the affidavit was sworn to in his presence, combined with Nix's failure to object when it was introduced, established proper oath administration; (2) because the affidavit and warrant were regular on their face and Nix failed to object to their admission, the State bore no burden to prove the Justice of the Peace had territorial jurisdiction; and (3) the trial judge could take judicial notice that the county judge's court had jurisdiction to try beverage offenses, and whether Gadsden County was 'dry' was an element the State must prove in the underlying prosecution, not in the perjury case.
“Although no quarrel can be found with this statement of law, it provides no basis for relief in the case here considered. Our review of the trial proceedings reveals that the Justice of the Peace was specifically asked whether or not the documents which he identified, including the affidavit in question, were sworn to in his presence, to which the witness replied in the affirmative.”
The court acknowledged the requirement that an oath must be administered for perjury but found sufficient evidence that the affidavit was sworn to in the Justice of the Peace's presence.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceNix was charged with two counts of perjury: (1) knowingly swearing falsely in an affidavit before a Justice of the Peace of Gadsden County to secure a…
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 Oath Administration cases and more on FLexlaw
Appellant was charged in two counts of an indictment with the offense of perjury. One count alleged that he knowingly swore falsely in an affidavit before the Justice of the Peace of Gadsden County for the purpose of securing a search warrant involving the unlawful possession and sale of intoxicating beverages. The second count charged him with having knowingly given false testimony in a case in which he was called as a witness, and in which he was sworn to tell the truth, which case involved the prosecution of the person whose premises were searched under the search warrant obtained by the alleged false affidavit described in the first count of the indictment. Appellant was convicted on both counts of the indictment and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three years on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. It is from that judgment and sentence that this appeal is taken.
By his first point on appeal appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict *467and for a new trial on the ground that the State failed to prove that any oath was administered to him by the Justice of the Peace either before or contemporaneously with his execution of the affidavit in question, or at any time thereafter. In support of this position appellant relies on the case of Markey v. State1 for the proposition that it is absolutely essential to the offense that the testimony or statement relied on as constituting perjury was under an oath actually administered. Although no quarrel can be found with this statement of law, it provides no basis for relief in the case here considered. Our review of the trial proceedings reveals that the Justice of the Peace was specifically asked whether or not the documents which he identified, including the affidavit in question, were sworn to in his presence, to which the witness replied in the affirmative. The jury was justified in concluding from this testimony that the affidavit signed by appellant in the presence of the Justice of the Peace, and which purported to have been sworn to by appellant, was signed after the required oath was properly administered to him. Furthermore, after the affidavit was identified by the Justice of the Peace as having been signed and sworn to by appellant, it was offered in evidence by the State. Appellant’s counsel was asked by the court whether he had any objection to the introduction in evidence of the affidavit, to which appellant’s counsel replied, “No objection.” If there was any defect in the execution of the affidavit because of the failure of the Justice of the Peace to properly administer to appellant the required oath, such defect was waived by appellant’s failure to object to the affidavit when offered in evidence by the State.
By his second point on appeal appellant urges that the proof fails to establish that the place to be searched under the warrant procured by appellant upon his allegedly false affidavit was within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace who took appellant’s oath and issued the warrant. Appellant argues that since the State failed to prove that the Justice of the Peace had jurisdiction of the place described in the search warrant, the warrant was void and the falsity of the affidavit made by him would be wholly immaterial and form no basis for the charge of perjury.
The statute relating to search warrants clearly provides that such a warrant may be issued only by a Justice of the Peace having territorial jurisdiction of the place to be searched.2 It was held in Robinson v. State that the foregoing statute is to be strictly construed, and that affidavits made and search warrants issued thereunder must strictly conform to constitutional and statutory provisions.3 In the Robinson case, supra, it was further held that: “The words, ‘having jurisdiction within the district where the place * * * to be searched * * * ’ appearing in Section 933.01, are words of limitation and under the Hart case, supra (Hart v. State, 89 Fla. 202, 103 So. 633), must be strictly construed.” It also appears to be the general law of Florida that in order to constitute perjury the false statement on which the prosecution is founded must be made in a proceeding or in relation to a matter that is within the jurisdiction of the court or officer before whom such proceeding is held, or by whom such matter is considered.4 From the foregoing authorities it would appear that unless the place to be searched as described in the affidavit signed by appel*468lant, and in the search warrant issued thereon, was within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace administering the ■oath and issuing the warrant, the search made thereunder would be invalid and anything secured as a result thereof would be suppressed upon proper motion. The record "before us is silent on the question of whether the place described in the affidavit and search warrant in question was within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace. Nor does it appear that any attack upon the affidavit or search warrant was made during the criminal prosecution involving the alleged unlawful sale and possession of the intoxicating beverages seized pursuant to the search made under that warrant. The record is clear, however, that when the search warrant in question was offered for evidence in the trial of the perjury case against appellant herein, no objection to its admission in evidence was made by appellant on any ground. In fact appellant’s counsel affirmatively announced to the court that he had no objection to the admission of the warrant in evidence. It is our view that the affidavit and search warrant, being regular and valid on their face, cast no burden on the State to prove that the place described in the affidavit and warrant were within the territorial jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace who administered the oath to the affidavit, and issued the warrant. In order to have raised these questions, it was incumbent upon appellant to object to the introduction in evidence of the affidavit and warrant on the grounds now urged before us. Having failed to do so, he waived any objection he had to the validity of the affidavit or the regularity of the warrant.
By his last point on appeal appellant urges that the trial court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict because the State failed to prove that at the time the false affidavit was filed before the Justice of the Peace as a predicate for issuance of the search warrant, that Gadsden County was a dry county, thereby rendering illegal the possession or sale of intoxicating beverages. It is appellant’s position that unless the State established by competent evidence that Gadsden County was a dry county at the time the allegedly false affidavit was filed and search warrant issued thereon, the county judge’s court of Gadsden County would have had no jurisdiction to try the person whose premises were searched and in whose possession intoxicating beverages were found; and that if the court lacked jurisdiction over such an offense, appellant’s testimony given at the trial, even though false, could not constitute perjury.
There can be no quarrel with the proposition relied on by appellant that one of the elements of perjury which must be proved by the State is that the court in which the alleged perjury was committed had jurisdiction of the proceedings.5 We do not agree, however, that any such question is presented by the case before us.
The trial judge was wholly justified in taking judicial notice of the statutes of this State which vest in the county judge’s court in a county such as Gadsden jurisdiction to try persons charged with the unlawful sale of intoxicating beverages, as well as the unlawful possession for the purpose of sale of such beverages. The possession or sale of intoxicating beverages is unlawful only in counties which have voted against the lawful sale thereof. In any such prosecution, one of the elements of the offense which the State has the burden of establishing is that the county in which the offense was committed had theretofore voted against the legal sale therein of intoxicating beverages. This is an item of proof which must be established in order to sustain a conviction of anyone charged with such an offense. Whether such element of the offense is proved by the State can have no bearing on the question of whether a witness swears falsely in the proceedings *469growing out of the alleged offense.6 We do not conceive that any burden rested upon the State in the case sub judice to establish that Gadsden County was a “dry” county at the time appellant filed the false affidavit which formed the predicate for the search warrant which issued, and at the time when appellant swore falsely as a witness in the prosecution of the offense growing out of the search made pursuant to the warrant.7 If the person against whom appellant gave false testimony was convicted for unlawfully selling intoxicating beverages in a county where the sale was legal, the error would infect the validity of the judgment but not the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the action.
The judgment appealed is affirmed.
STURGIS, C. J., and MURPHREE, Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Carol City Utils., Inc. v. Gaines Constr. Co., 201 So. 2d 242 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)…se affidavits that contained matters which [*245] would be admissible in a judicial proceeding would be acceptable. See: Humphrys v. Jarrell, Fla.App.1958, 104 So. 2d 404; Tarkoff v. Schmunk, Fla.App.1959, 117 So. 2d 442; Nix v. State, Fla.App.1965, 173 So. 2d 465; § 837.01, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. As to the third point: The order which appointed the arbitrator in this cause directed him “to conduct said arbitration with all convenient speed and make his report to this Court.” There was no limit on the scope of th…
-
Collins v. State, 465 So. 2d 1266 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)…. State, 47 Fla. 38, 37 So. 53 (Fla.1904); Youngker v. State, 215 So. 2d 318 (Fla. 4th DCA 1968). It is essential to the offense of perjury that the statement considered peijurious was given under an oath actually administered. Markey; Nix v. State, 173 So. 2d 465 (Fla. 1st DCA 1965). In this case, the police officer testified that he was not sworn before signing the affidavit. He did no unequivocal act by which he attested to the truth of his statements. If the statements had been false, he could not have b…
-
State v. Johnston, 553 So. 2d 730 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…37 So. 53 (Fla.1904); Collins v. State, 465 So. 2d 1266, 1268 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). In order to commit the offense of perjury, a statement must be given under an oath which was actually administered. Markey; Collins, 465 So. 2d at 1268; Nix v. State, 173 So. 2d 465, 467 (Fla. 1st DCA 1965). An oath is an unequivocal act, before an officer authorized to administer oaths, by which the person knowingly attests to the truth of a statement and assumes the obligations of an oath. Collins, 465 So. 2d at 1268; Youngke…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- United States v. Williams, 341 U.S. 58 (U.S. 1951)
- Hart v. State, 89 Fla. 202 (Fla. 1925)
- Markey v. State, 47 Fla. 38 (Fla. 1904)
- Kelly v. Patek, 172 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965)
- Benitez v. State, 172 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965)
- Ronnick v. Cmty. Homes, Inc., 124 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960)
- Adonis Robinson v. State, 124 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960)