In Re Standard Jury Inst. in Crim. Cases-Report 2007-01

965 So. 2d 811, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 530, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 1535, 2007 WL 2438370
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedAugust 30, 2007
DocketSC07-325
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 965 So. 2d 811 (In Re Standard Jury Inst. in Crim. Cases-Report 2007-01) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Standard Jury Inst. in Crim. Cases-Report 2007-01, 965 So. 2d 811, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 530, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 1535, 2007 WL 2438370 (Fla. 2007).

Opinion

965 So.2d 811 (2007)

In re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES-REPORT 2007-01.

No. SC07-325.

Supreme Court of Florida.

August 30, 2007.

The Honorable Terry David Terrell, Chair, Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, First Judicial Circuit, Pensacola, Florida, for Petitioner.

PER CURIAM.

The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases (Committee) has filed a report proposing amendments to Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases 2.4 — Similar Fact Evidence "Williams Rule"; 2.7 — Closing Argument; 3.3(f) — Aggravation of a Felony By Evidencing Prejudice; and 3.8(a) — Similar Fact Evidence "Williams Rule." The Committee also proposes a number of new instructions, including 8.18 — Violation of Domestic Violence Injunction; 8.19 — Violation of Repeat Violence Injunction; 11.11 — Lewd or Lascivious Offenses Committed Upon or in the Presence of an Elderly Person or Disabled Person; 14.5 — Theft of Communication Services; 14.6 — Unauthorized Possession of Communications Devices; 21.5 — Giving False Information Concerning the Commission of a Crime; 21.6 — Giving False Information Concerning the Commission of a Capital Felony; and 28.13 — Refusal to Submit to Testing. The Committee published the proposals for comment in The Florida Bar News prior to submission to the Court. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

Having considered the Committee's report and the comments filed, we approve for publication and use instructions 2.4, 2.7, 3.8(a), 8.18, 8.19, 21.5, 21.6, and 28.13, as proposed by the Committee. In addition, we approve for publication and use, with the modifications discussed below, instructions 3.3(f), 11.11, 14.5, and 14.6.[1]

First, with respect to the proposed amendment to instruction 3.3(f) — Aggravation of a Felony by Evidencing Prejudice, section 775.085, Florida Statutes (2006), Florida's Hate Crimes Statute, provides for the reclassification of penalties for offenses committed against a victim based upon prejudice for reasons of race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, mental or physical disability, or advanced age of the victim. As proposed, the amendment to instruction 3.3(f) would add, in pertinent part, the provision that the defendant's intentional selection of the victim based on the defendant's perception or knowledge of the victim's identification with certain enumerated groups may be based "in whole or in part" on that perception or knowledge. The Committee proposed the quoted phrase, citing Dobbins v. State, 605 So.2d 922 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992), approved, 631 So.2d 303 (Fla.1994), a decision approved by this Court in upholding the constitutionality of section 775.085, Florida Statutes (1989). See State v. Stalder, 630 So.2d 1072, 1077 (Fla.1994). Because section 775.085 does not include the proposed language, however, we decline to add the phrase "in whole or in part" to instruction 3.3(f).

Second, for purposes of section 825.1025, Florida Statutes (2006), Lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of an elderly person or disabled person, "Disabled adult" is defined as

*812 a person 18 years of age or older who suffers from a condition of physical or mental incapacitation due to a developmental disability, organic brain damage, or mental illness, or who has one or more physical or mental limitations that restrict the person's ability to perform the normal activities of daily living.

§ 825.101(4), Fla. Stat. (2006). The Committee's proposed new instruction 11.11, however, defines "Disabled adult"—to the extent a disability is the cause for the condition of physical or mental incapacity—with the term "fundamental" to modify "disability." Accordingly, to bring instruction 11.11 into accord with section 825.101(4), we have substituted "developmental" for "fundamental."

Finally, section 812.15, Florida Statutes (2006), pertaining to the unauthorized reception of communications services, sets out two distinct offenses: unauthorized acquisition of communication services; and unlawful possession of a communication device. See §§ 812.15(2)(a); 812.15(4). Following substantial amendments to section 812.15 by the Legislature, see ch. 2003-186, Laws of Fla., the Committee proposed two new instructions: 14.5— Theft of Communication Services, and 14.6—Unauthorized Possession of Communications Devices. We have modified instruction 14.5 to include both the statutory definition for "Communications device," see § 812.15(1)(c), and the degree enhancement provision in section 812.15(3)(a).[2] We have also modified instruction 14.6 to include the definition for "Assist Others," as was proposed by the Committee in instruction 14.5.

We hereby authorize the publication and use of the amended and new instructions as set forth in the appendix to this opinion. In doing so, we express no opinion on the correctness of those instructions and remind all interested parties that this authorization forecloses neither requesting additional or alternative instructions nor contesting the legal correctness of the instructions. We further caution all interested parties that any notes and comments associated with the instructions reflect only the opinion of the Committee and are not necessarily indicative of the views of this Court as to their correctness or applicability. New language is indicated by underlining, and deleted language is struck through. The instructions as set forth in the appendix shall be effective when this opinion becomes final. However, because the Court did not publish the instructions for comment prior to their authorization as modified, the Committee as well as interested persons shall have sixty days from the date of this opinion in which to file comments with the Court.[3]

It is so ordered.

*813 LEWIS, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, QUINCE, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur.

APPENDIX

2.4 SIMILAR FACTEVIDENCE OF OTHER CRIMES, WRONGS, OR ACTS EVIDENCE "WILLIAMS RULE"

§ 90.404(2)(a) Fla. Stat.

To be given at the time the evidence is admitted, if requested.

The evidence you are about to receive concerning evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts allegedly committed by the defendant will be considered by you for the limited purpose of proving [motive] [opportunity] [intent] [preparation] [plan] [knowledge] [identity] [the absence of mistake or accident] on the part of the defendant [or] [to corroborate the testimony of (name of child)] and you shall consider it only as it relates to [that] [those] issue[s].

However, the defendant is not on trial for a crime, wrong, or act that is not included in the [information] [indictment].

Comment

See section 90.404(2)(b), Fla. Stat., effective July 1, 2001, in child molestation cases. The part of the instruction that allows similar fact evidence to corroborate the testimony of the victim should only be given in some cases involving child victims of sexual abuse. See Heuring v. State, 513 So.2d 122 (Fla. 1987); Saffor v. State, 660 So.2d 668 (Fla. 1994); State v. Rawls, 649 So.2d 1350 (Fla. 1994).

This instruction was adopted in 1981 and was amended in 1984 2000 [765 So.2d 692], and 2007.

2.7 CLOSING ARGUMENT

§ 918.19, Fla. Stat.

Both the State and the defendant have now rested their case.

The attorneys now will present their final arguments. Please remember that what the attorneys say is not evidence or your instruction on the law.

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965 So. 2d 811, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 530, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 1535, 2007 WL 2438370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-standard-jury-inst-in-crim-cases-report-2007-01-fla-2007.