Burkett v. State

518 So. 2d 1363, 1988 WL 2632
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 15, 1988
DocketBS-286
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 518 So. 2d 1363 (Burkett v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burkett v. State, 518 So. 2d 1363, 1988 WL 2632 (Fla. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

518 So.2d 1363 (1988)

William Lee BURKETT, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. BS-286.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

January 15, 1988.

William R. Slaughter, II, of Slaughter and Slaughter, Live Oak, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Kenneth Muszynski, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

BARFIELD, Judge.

William Lee Burkett appeals his conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, asserting that he did not know he was a convicted felon at the time he possessed the firearm. We affirm.

Section 790.23, Florida Statutes (1985), provides:

(1) It is unlawful for any person who has been convicted of a felony in the courts of this state or of a crime against the United States which is designated as a felony or convicted of an offense in any other state, territory, or country punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year to own or to have in his care, custody, possession, or control any firearm or electric weapon or device or to carry a concealed weapon, including all tear gas guns and chemical weapons or devices.
(2) This section shall not apply to a person convicted of a felony whose civil rights have been restored.

Appellant's predicate conviction and sentence for attempted sexual battery and trespass of an occupied structure was affirmed on July 23, 1986, and mandate issued *1364 on August 8, 1986.[1] Appellant was arrested on August 17 as the result of a late night incident at Suwannee Springs, and was charged with various offenses including aggravated assault with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. At his trial without a jury on the latter charge, appellant asserted that he had not received notification that his conviction for attempted sexual battery had been affirmed on appeal when he was arrested for the firearm possession offense.

In an affidavit, appellant's attorney swore that he had received the appellate court's mandate on August 14 and mailed it and the opinion to appellant's mother's address (given to him as appellant's residence); that on August 16, appellant's mother telephoned him to say that she had received the materials, but that appellant did not reside at her address; and that the opinion and mandate were then sent to appellant's new address, probably on the following day.

Appellant asserts on appeal that the trial court erred in finding him guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon when the uncontradicted evidence established that he did not know he was a convicted felon at the time he possessed the firearm. He contends that a defendant's knowledge of his status as a convicted felon is an essential element which must be proved in order to sustain a conviction for violation of section 790.23, even though the statute does not expressly mention "knowledge" as an element of the offense.

He concedes that a defendant's knowledge of his status as a convicted felon is usually implied from the circumstances,[2] that in a prosecution for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon the State establishes the defendant's knowledge of his status by a certified copy of the prior judgment and sentence, and that such proof would, under most circumstances, preclude a claim that the defendant did not know he was a convicted felon, because the pronouncement of judgment and imposition of sentence usually signifies the conclusion of judicial involvement in a case.

He contends, however, that when a defendant pursues an appeal of a judgment and sentence, he is not considered a convicted felon until the appellate court affirms the conviction, citing Wheeler v. State, 465 So.2d 639 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). He argues that a defendant free on an appeal bond is not prohibited from possessing a firearm, or voting, or otherwise exercising his constitutional and civil rights during the pendency of that appeal.[3] He *1365 asserts that at the conclusion of an unsuccessful appeal the defendant is usually notified by his counsel, law enforcement, the state attorney or his bondsman that his judgment and sentence have been affirmed and that he must report to serve his sentence, but that in his case he had not received such a communication at the time he possessed the firearm in question, and did not know that his conviction had been affirmed.

The State, giving appellant the benefit of an assumption that he was unaware not only of the issuance of the mandate in the appeal of his prior conviction, but also of the opinion affirming his conviction which had been issued more than two weeks before the mandate, argues that his position is flawed by the two erroneous propositions upon which it is based: 1) that his prior conviction was not final for purposes of the firearm possession statute until it was affirmed on appeal; and 2) that his lack of knowledge of the affirmance is a defense. We agree.

The terms "convicted" and "conviction" have been used in different contexts with different meanings, to represent the determination of guilt resulting from a plea or trial, regardless of whether adjudication of guilt is withheld or imposition of sentence is suspended,[4] or to include the sentence or judgment of the court.[5]

In Joyner v. State, 158 Fla. 806, 30 So.2d 304 (1947), the Florida Supreme Court held that a conviction may not be relied on for the purpose of enhancing criminal penalties under the habitual offender statute until it is final, and that if an appeal has been taken, the conviction does not become final until the judgment of the lower court has been affirmed by the appellate court. However, in Stevens v. State, 409 So.2d 1051 (Fla. 1982), the court disapproved the holding in Ledee v. State, 342 So.2d 100 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), in which the Third District Court of Appeal had relied on Joyner in finding that a probation revocation could not be based on a conviction which was pending on appeal. The Stevens court approved the reasoning of the Fifth District Court of Appeal that a probation revocation based on a subsequent conviction is proper although the conviction is subject to appeal, since a judgment of conviction is presumed to be correct until reversed.

Earlier, in McCrae v. State, 395 So.2d 1145 (Fla. 1980), cert. den., McCray v. Florida, 454 U.S. 1041, 102 S.Ct. 583, 70 L.Ed.2d 486 (1981), the court held that a conviction, used as an aggravating factor for the imposition of the death penalty under section 921.141(5)(b), means a plea of guilty accepted by the court, even without a formal adjudication of guilt. The court's opinion indicates that it does not consider Joyner dispositive of the meaning of the term "conviction" outside the context of the habitual offender statute.

In Prudential Insurance Company of America, Inc. v. Baitinger, 452 So.2d 140 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984), the court found that a "final judgment of conviction" under section 732.802, which precludes a convicted murderer from receiving insurance benefits when the victim was the insured, means an adjudication of guilt by the trial court, notwithstanding a pending appeal, citing DePaulis v. Judges of District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, 373 So.2d 663 (Fla. *1366 1979),[6] and Weathers v. State, 56 So.2d 536 (Fla. 1952),[7] and distinguishing Joyner on the ground that the respective controlling statutes had different purposes.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
518 So. 2d 1363, 1988 WL 2632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burkett-v-state-fladistctapp-1988.