Farrell v. State

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Farrell v. State

650 So. 2d 88, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 248, 1995 WL 15586

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedJanuary 18, 1995

DocketNo. 93-2891

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 650 So. 2d 88 (Farrell 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

Farrell v. State, 650 So. 2d 88, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 248, 1995 WL 15586 (Fla. Ct. App. 1995).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM.

We accepted jurisdiction in this appeal from the county court because the issue was said to be of great public importance. The issue on appeal is whether an arrest and related activity by a deputy sheriff is subject to avoidance by the arrestee where that deputy sheriffs oath of office was administered [89]*89by one other than the duly-elected sheriff. We answer the certified question in the negative.

Whether the sheriff duly appointed deputy Brownlee is an issue not before us. The issue presented to the trial court was whether one other than the sheriff may administer the oath of office. We do not reach that issue, but resolve the matter by relying on well-established law that a third party may not look behind the deputy’s authority (in the legal sense) as a defense in a criminal prosecution.

The deputy sheriff here, even assuming his appointment might be considered irregular for lack of a proper oath (and we do not so hold), was at least a defacto and more probably a de jure officer at the time of the arrest in question. It is clearly established that the acts of officers in these categories are valid as to third persons and the public until their title to office is judicially adjudged to be defective. Kane v. Robbins, 556 So.2d 1381, 1385 (Fla.1989); see, generally, 9 Fla.Jur.2d, Civil Servants, §§ 166-174.

Accordingly, we answer the certified question by holding that the third party/arrestee has no standing in the context of his own criminal prosecution to question the authority of the deputy sheriff.

AFFIRMED.

HERSEY, GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., concur.

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PER CURIAM.

We accepted jurisdiction in this appeal from the county court because the issue was said to be of great public importance. The issue on appeal is whether an arrest and related activity by a deputy sheriff is subject to avoidance by the arrestee where that deputy sheriffs oath of office was administered [89]*89by one other than the duly-elected sheriff. We answer the certified question in the negative.

Whether the sheriff duly appointed deputy Brownlee is an issue not before us. The issue presented to the trial court was whether one other than the sheriff may administer the oath of office. We do not reach that issue, but resolve the matter by relying on well-established law that a third party may not look behind the deputy’s authority (in the legal sense) as a defense in a criminal prosecution.

The deputy sheriff here, even assuming his appointment might be considered irregular for lack of a proper oath (and we do not so hold), was at least a defacto and more probably a de jure officer at the time of the arrest in question. It is clearly established that the acts of officers in these categories are valid as to third persons and the public until their title to office is judicially adjudged to be defective. Kane v. Robbins, 556 So.2d 1381, 1385 (Fla.1989); see, generally, 9 Fla.Jur.2d, Civil Servants, §§ 166-174.

Accordingly, we answer the certified question by holding that the third party/arrestee has no standing in the context of his own criminal prosecution to question the authority of the deputy sheriff.

AFFIRMED.

HERSEY, GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., concur.

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Bluebook (online)

650 So. 2d 88, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 248, 1995 WL 15586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farrell-v-state-fladistctapp-1995.

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