STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
BENNIE JACKSON AND HENRY FISHER, RESPONDENTS

Fla. | 1973-06-06
No. 42320
ROBERTS, ERVIN and McCAIN, JJ., concur., DEKLE, J., dissents with Opinion.
281 So. 2d 353 Florida Supreme Court (1973) Caution
Cited by 22 cases

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Holding

The dissenting justice believes the court lacks jurisdiction based on obiter dictum, as it does not constitute a prior adjudication of a point of law.


Headnotes

[1] An outdoor telephone booth enclosed with walls and a roof constitutes a 'building' within the meaning of burglary statutes.

[2] A conviction for breaking and entering a building requires proof of trespass, which is negated by express or implied permission to enter.

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Facts & Procedural History

The case involves a dissent arguing against the Supreme Court's jurisdiction based on conflict certiorari.…

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Opinion of the Court
CARLTON, Chief Justice.

CARLTON, Chief Justice.

This case is before us on a petition by the State of Florida for a writ of certiorari to the District Court of Appeal, Second District. Since the opinion of the District Court in this cause, reported at 259 So.2d 739, conflicts with Perry v. State, 174 So.2d 55 (1st D.C.A.Fla.1965), and Tavalaccio v. State, 59 So.2d 247 (Fla.1952), we have jurisdiction. Article V, § 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution, F.S.A.

Respondents, Jackson and Fisher, were convicted of breaking and entering a building, specifically a telephone booth, with intent to commit a felony therein, in violation of Fla.Stat. § 810.02, F.S.A. The District Court reversed on the grounds that “(1) the record did not establish that the ‘phone booth’ was a ‘building’ within the meaning of the applicable statute, and (2) an indispensable element in the charge of breaking and entering, namely, the non-consent of the owner, was not established.”

In Perry v. State, supra, the First District Court upheld multiple convictions of entering without breaking “a certain building, to-wit: a telephone booth” with intent to commit a misdemeanor. The Court held that the telephone booths involved, shown to have been located “outdoors, not within another building,” were themselves buildings within the meaning of the applicable statute. The decision in the case sub jud-ice does not, in precise terms, conflict with Perry, but in the opinion now before us the District Court explained, obiter dictum, that in its view a telephone booth was not a building within the meaning of the statute whether located indoors or out. This is the type of obiter dictum which creates conflict. See Southern Realty & Utilities Corp. v. Belmont Mortgage Co., 186 So.2d 24 (Fla.1966).

In Perry, the First District Court thoroughly analyzed several definitions of the word “building”. We think it correctly concluded that a telephone booth which is enclosed with walls and a roof and which is located outdoors is a building within the meaning of our burglary statutes. See also 78 A.L.R.2d 778. The record in the instant case establishes that the telephone booth involved is of this type. It is, therefore, a building which may be unlawfully broken and entered under certain circumstances.

In this case, however, the District Court properly reversed respondents’ convictions because it was not established that the breaking and entering of the telephone booth amounted to a trespass. See Jenkins v. State, 58 Fla. 62, 50 So. 582 (1909). Where the one entering a building has per*355mission to enter, either express or implied, there is no trespass and, therefore, no breaking and no burglary. Cannon v. State, 102 Fla. 928, 136 So. 695 (1931); see 12 C.J.S. Burglary §§ 10-12.

The conflict with Tavalaccio v. State, supra, lies not in the result reached by the District Court, but in its characterization of non-consent of the owner of the building as an element of the crime charged. We have often stated, as in Tavalaccio, that the elements of a statutory burglary of this type are (1) the breaking and (2) the entering of a building with (3) the intent to commit a felony therein. Non-consent is not, per se, an element of the crime; the element of ‘breaking’ however, means the actual or constructive use of some force against a part of a building in effectuating an unconsented entry. See 12 C.J.S. Burglary § 11.

When the crime charged is breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny, we have held that non-consent to the alleged taking intended may be established by circumstantial evidence. Johnson v. State, 157 Fla. 328, 25 So.2d 801 (1946). Non-consent to entry of the building may also be established in this manner. In the case at bar, however, the evidence presented at trial showed nothing other than a public telephone booth impliedly open to anyone at any hour, and no unusual circumstances were proven. For a building of this type to be unlawfully broken and entered, the implied consent to enter must be negated — for example, by proving that the telephone booth was out-of-order and padlocked.

Since non-consent to enter was not established in this case, the reversal of respondents’ convictions for breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony is hereby affirmed. The opinion of the District Court of Appeals, Second District, is modified, however, as indicated herein.

It is so ordered.

ROBERTS, ERVIN and McCAIN, JJ., concur.

DEKLE, J., dissents with Opinion.

DEKLE, Justice

(dissenting):

I must respectfully dissent (even though agreeing with the conclusion on the merits) because of my view that pure obiter dictum, since it is not a prior adjudication of a point of law, cannot constitute a constitutional basis of conflict to vest jurisdiction in the Supreme Court.

Fla.Const. art. V, § 3(b)(3) (1973), which is the basis for conflict certiorari here, provides for:

“ . . . review by certiorari [of] any decision of a district court of appeal . that is in direct conflict with a decision of any district court of appeal or of the supreme court on the same question of law. . . . ” (Emphasis added)

It is, therefore, a conflict with decisions, not a conflict with “opinions or reasons that supplies jurisdiction for review by certiorari.” Gibson v. Maloney, 231 So.2d 823, 824 (Fla.1970). Since obiter dictum is neither a “question of law” nor “a decision” on a question of law within this grant of jurisdiction, we have no basis for jurisdiction merely on some comment of a district court which may be in variance, and often is, with a rule of law or decision in other cases. A court by such dictum is simply discussing the question before it, prior to arriving at its “decision” which is the basis for review.

Sunad, Inc. v. City of Sarasota, 122 So.2d 611 (Fla.1960), which seized upon obiter for conflict was a 4 — 3 decision in which only one judge remains as a member of the present Supreme Court; the subsequent Southern Realty & Util. Corp. v. Belmont Mtg. Corp., 186 So.2d 24 (Fla.1966), cited for conflict in the present opinion, relies upon Sunad.

*356This Court should expressly recede from any notice of conflict on mere obiter dictum which is entirely inconsistent with the important bases of constitutional, statutory and similarly paramount grounds for consideration by this Court which is already laboring under an excess caseload of almost 1400 cases per year (contrasted with the recommended [and actual] appellate court caseload in other states of only half that number). We need to direct our energies toward those more important matters to which we were limited when the people of Florida fixed Our jurisdiction by their vote for our Constitution.

Dissent
DEKLE, Justice

DEKLE, Justice

(dissenting):

I must respectfully dissent (even though agreeing with the conclusion on the merits) because of my view that pure obiter dictum, since it is not a prior adjudication of a point of law, cannot constitute a constitutional basis of conflict to vest jurisdiction in the Supreme Court.

Fla.Const. art. V, § 3(b)(3) (1973), which is the basis for conflict certiorari here, provides for:

“ . . . review by certiorari [of] any decision of a district court of appeal . that is in direct conflict with a decision of any district court of appeal or of the supreme court on the same question of law. . . . ” (Emphasis added)

It is, therefore, a conflict with decisions, not a conflict with “opinions or reasons that supplies jurisdiction for review by certiorari.” Gibson v. Maloney, 231 So. 2d 823, 824 (Fla.1970). Since obiter dictum is neither a “question of law” nor “a decision” on a question of law within this grant of jurisdiction, we have no basis for jurisdiction merely on some comment of a district court which may be in variance, and often is, with a rule of law or decision in other cases. A court by such dictum is simply discussing the question before it, prior to arriving at its “decision” which is the basis for review.

Sunad, Inc. v. City of Sarasota, 122 So. 2d 611 (Fla.1960), which seized upon obiter for conflict was a 4 — 3 decision in which only one judge remains as a member of the present Supreme Court; the subsequent Southern Realty & Util. Corp. v. Belmont Mtg. Corp., 186 So. 2d 24 (Fla.1966), cited for conflict in the present opinion, relies upon Sunad. This Court should expressly recede from any notice of conflict on mere obiter dictum which is entirely inconsistent with the important bases of constitutional, statutory and similarly paramount grounds for consideration by this Court which is already laboring under an excess caseload of almost 1400 cases per year (contrasted with the recommended [and actual] appellate court caseload in other states of only half that number). We need to direct our energies toward those more important matters to which we were limited when the people of Florida fixed Our jurisdiction by their vote for our Constitution.


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Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • State v. Hicks, 421 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 1982)
    …ntial element of burglary under section 810.02(1), Florida Statutes (1979), which the state must allege in an information or indictment. We have jurisdiction, article V, section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution, and find conflict with State v. Jackson, 281 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1973); Howard v. State, 400 So. 2d 1329 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 364 So. 2d 888 (Fla.1978). We hold that consent to entry is an affirmative defense to, rather than an essential element [*511] of, burglary, and quash the decision of th…
    1 / 2
  • Hicks v. State, 407 So. 2d 252 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)
    …the Supreme Court held that non-consent of the owner of the building was not an element of the crime, although it defined the element of “breaking” as the actual or constructive use of force in effectuating an unconsented to entry. State v. Jackson, 281 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1973). Thus, even under that statute, non-consent to enter was inferentially alleged when the information charged a “breaking,” and had to be proved by either direct or circumstantial evidence. When the legislature adopted the current statute,…
  • Hardrick v. State, 293 So. 2d 135 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)
    …years for grand larceny. Hardrick appealed. Hardrick contends that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the charge of breaking and entering, relying on Jackson v. State, Fla.App.2d 1972, 259 So. 2d 739, and State v. Jackson, Fla.1973, 281 So. 2d 353. In State v. Jackson the Supreme Court held that the convictions of Hardrick’s co-defendants Jackson and Fisher for breaking and entering a telephone booth with intent to commit a felony could not be sustained because the implied consent to enter mu…

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