JACK NELSON JOHNSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Jack Nelson Johnson was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny, grand larceny, and receiving stolen property. The trial court denied his motions to require the state to elect between the inconsistent counts of grand larceny and receiving stolen property, resulting in guilty verdicts on all three counts. The appellate court reversed, holding that denial of a timely motion to elect between repugnant counts constitutes reversible error.
The trial court's denial of the motion to elect between repugnant and inconsistent counts constitutes reversible error warranting a new trial. A principal in a larceny cannot legally be guilty of receiving the same stolen goods, as one cannot receive goods from oneself, making the two counts factually and legally inconsistent.
[1] A defendant cannot be guilty of both larceny and receiving the same stolen property.
[2] Counts charging larceny and receiving stolen property are inconsistent and repugnant when the same property and the same person as principal are involved.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the principal in a larceny cannot himself be guilty of the crime of receiving the same goods which he himself has stolen, nor can the guilty receiver himself be the principal in the larceny. The inconsistency is obvious. One cannot receive goods from himself.”
Establishes the fundamental legal principle that larceny and receiving stolen property are mutually exclusive offenses when committed by the same person against the same property.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJohnson was charged by amended information with: (1) breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny; (2) grand larceny; and (3) unlawfully …
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RAWLS, Acting Chief Judge.
By amended information, appellant was charged in Count I with breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny, in Count II with grand larceny, and in Count III with unlawfully receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen property, knowing the same to have been stolen.
Prior to taking testimony, appellant’s attorney moved the court to instruct the state to make an election between Counts II and III on the ground that the counts were inconsistent and repugnant to each other. The trial judge denied the motion. This motion was renewed following presentation of the state’s case, and again the trial judge denied the motion. The trial court instructed the jury that each count of the information constituted a separate and distinct offense. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on all three counts. The trial court entered judgments of guilt and imposed sentences on Counts I and II; there was no adjudication on the third count of receiving or aiding in the concealment of stolen property.
Appellant’s sole point on appeal is: “The trial court prejudicially erred in denying Appellant’s motions, timely made, to require the State to elect which of two repugnant and inconsistent counts it would rely upon for a conviction, said error requiring reversal for a new trial.” We agree.
The well settled rule in this state is as expressed in the early case of Bargesser v. State, 95 Fla. 401, 116 So. 11 (1928):
“Larceny and receiving stolen goods knowing the same to be stolen are sepa rate and distinct offenses and, where the same property, the same larceny, and the same person as principal are involved, they are in law inconsistent offenses . the principal in a larceny cannot himself be guilty of the crime of receiving the same goods which he himself has stolen, nor can the guilty receiver himself be the principal in the larceny. The inconsistency is obvious. One cannot receive goods from himself.
“Since the defendant, under the evidence in this case, could not in law be guilty of both of these offenses, of which one did the jury find him guilty? . . . Since the verdict is one which the law does not authorize, the judgment entered thereon must be, and is hereby, reversed.”
Carlton v. State, 108 Fla. 34, 145 So. 249 (1933), reiterated the foregoing rule wherein the Supreme Court stated:
“Being appropriate, as this court has said, a motion to require the state to elect between two inconsistent counts should be granted, when two counts of an information are entirely repugnant but have been permitted to stand in order to meet evidence which may possibly be adduced at the trial. To deny such motion when properly and timely made will be held reversible error warranting a new trial, when it appears that the jury has found the defendant guilty on one of the two inconsistent counts.”1
REVERSED with directions that a new trial be granted.
MILLS and SMITH, JJ., concur. . Tidwell v. State, 143 Fla. 397, 196 So. 837 (1940); see Pearce v. State, 143 Fla. 347, 196 So. 685 (1940). Adams v. State, 138 Fla. 206, 189 So. 392 (1939), is not necessarily to the contrary. The unanimous Supreme Court held that the counts of larceny and of receiving stolen property were not, in the circumstances of that case, repugnant to each other. It appears that Adams may well have been charged in the larceny count as an aider and abettor. See Bargesser, supra, 116 So. at 13; Adams v. State, 60 Fla. 1, 53 So. 451 (1910).
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State v. Patrus, 46 Fla. Supp. 19 (Broward Cty. Cir. Ct. 1977)…nce of alcoholic beverage . . . when affected to the extent that his normal faculties are impaired.” The two charges are separate and distinct offenses and are neither repugnant nor inconsistent. Those cases cited by the appellee, Johnson v. State, 333 So. 2d 505, Tidwell v. State, 196 So. 837, and Mayers v. State, 171 So. 824, are easily distinguishable and do not apply. 2. The appellee asserts that he would be prejudiced if tried on the two charges together. He believes that evidence concerning his demean…
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Williams v. State, 357 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)…ne of the two inconsistent counts reversible error is committed. See also Mayers v. State, 126 Fla. 640, 171 So. 824 (1937); Pearce v. State, 143 Fla. 347, 196 So. 685 (1940), Tidwell v. State, 143 Fla. 397, 196 So. 837 (1940), and Johnson v. State, 333 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 1 DCA 1976). The radio the Appellant was accused of stealing was the same radio he was accused of having illegally bought, received or concealed. The motion for election was made at the proper time, at the close of the state’s case and before…
Authorities Cited
- Bargesser v. State, 95 Fla. 401 (Fla. 1928)
- Tidwell v. State, 143 Fla. 397 (Fla. 1940)
- Carlton v. State, 108 Fla. 34 (Fla. 1933)
- Adams v. State, 60 Fla. 1 (Fla. 1910)
- Lovic Adams v. State, 138 Fla. 206 (Fla. 1939)
- Pearce v. State, 143 Fla. 347 (Fla. 1940)