Jackson v. State

259 So. 2d 739
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 15, 1972
Docket71-362
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 259 So. 2d 739 (Jackson 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
Jackson v. State, 259 So. 2d 739 (Fla. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

259 So.2d 739 (1972)

Bennie JACKSON and Henry Fisher, Appellants,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 71-362.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

March 15, 1972.
Rehearing Denied April 20, 1972.

*740 W. Daniel Kearney, Asst. Public Defender, Bradenton, for appellants.

Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Charles Corces, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

PIERCE, Chief Judge.

In this case appellants Bennie Jackson and Henry Fisher appeal to this Court from a judgment of conviction entered against them by the Hillsborough County Criminal Court of Record.

On February 18, 1971, information was filed against appellants Jackson and Fisher, together with two others, charging felonies in two separate counts. The first count charged them with breaking and entering "a certain building, to-wit: a phone booth, located at 2219 East Columbus Drive" in Tampa, "a further description ... of which is to the County Solicitor unknown, the property of General Telephone Company of Florida ... "with intent to commit a felony therein, to-wit: to unlawfully ... steal ... money and property of the value of more than One Hundred Dollars", belonging to the telephone company. The second count charged grand larceny in connection with the same transaction in the stealing of the "money and telephone equipment", the property of the telephone company, of more than One Hundred Dollars in value.

A jury trial resulted in a verdict of guilt of both Jackson and Fisher on both counts, and in due course the were adjudged guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in the State Prison of ten years each on the first count charging breaking and entering, and imprisonment of five years each on the second count charging grand larceny, to run consecutively.

Upon an adjudication of indigency they were represented both at the trial and on appeal to this Court by the local Public Defender's office. Oral argument was not requested and the cause was submitted upon the transcript of record and the briefs. But in the discharge of our duty, we have carefully scrutinized the record and briefs filed here.

As to the second count charging grand larceny, we have no difficulty in affirming the judgment and sentence. The guilty *741 verdict on that count is amply sustained by the evidence and there were no fundamental or procedural errors sufficient to taint the verdict as to such count.

But as to the first count charging burglary of a "building, to-wit: a phone booth", we are faced with a more serious situation.

After analyzing the two-volume record and respective briefs filed here and indulging in a modicum of independent research of our own, we are impelled to reverse the judgment of conviction as to this first count for two reasons, namely, (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. We therefore must reverse as to the first count, but will discuss the two grounds of reversal seriatim:

(1) The phone booth as a building.

F.S. § 810.01 F.S.A. provides that —
"Whoever breaks and enters a dwelling house ... with intent to commit a felony, ... shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life, or for such term of years as may be determined by the court... . be not armed ... by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding twenty years". (Emphasis supplied).
F.S. § 810.02 F.S.A. provides that —
"Whoever breaks and enters any other building . .. with intent to commit a felony ... shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding fifteen years". (Emphasis supplied).

Count 1 charged that Jackson and Fisher —

"did unlawfully break and enter a certain building, to-wit: a phone booth, located at 2219 East Columbus Drive, in the City of Tampa, ... a further description and more exact location of which is to the County Solicitor unknown ... with intent to commit a felony therein, to-wit: to unlawfully ... steal ... money ... and property ... of the value of more than One Hundred Dollars ...". (Emphasis supplied).

It will be observed that the definitions of the two offenses set forth in F.S. § 810.01 and § 810.02 F.S.A. are identical except that § 810.01 has to do with a "dwelling house" while § 810.02 has to do with "any other building".

In a burglary prosecution the nature and character of the building allegedly burglarized is a material element of the offense and must be both alleged and proven with particularity. See Wood v. State, 1882, 18 Fla. 967; Kirkland v. State, 1940, 142 Fla. 73, 194 So. 624; Johnson v. State, Fla.App. 1966, 190 So.2d 601, affirmed 193 So.2d 56; Johnson v. State, Fla.App. 1966, 188 So.2d 61. The offense of breaking and entering involves an invasion of the possessory rights, as distinguished from ownership rights, of another. Cannon v. State, 1931, 102 Fla. 928, 136 So. 695; Smith v. State, 1928, 96 Fla. 30, 117 So. 377; Presley v. State, 1911, 61 Fla. 46, 54 So. 367.

Three cases have been decided in Florida involving the burglary of a phone booth, the 3rd District Court case of Dawalt v. State, Fla.App. 1963, 156 So.2d 769; the 1st District case of Perry v. State, Fla.App. 1965, 174 So.2d 55; and the 4th District case of Catanese v. State, Fla.App. 1971, 251 So.2d 572.

In Dawalt, the information charged the burglary of "a certain structure or building, to-wit: a telephone booth ... within a building" at a described location in Dade County, with intent to commit a *742 misdemeanor. The 3rd District Court said that:

"The determinative question is whether a telephone booth may properly be classed as a building when it is located in a building.
A telephone booth may or may not be a building, depending upon its location and other facts. A different test might be applied to a telephone booth which is outside or apart from a building and one which is within a building. Also, telephone booths differ materially in their structure. Some are enclosed, having four sides, a floor and a roof or ceiling. Others are open fronted and without covering."

The Court in Dawalt observed that "the state presented evidence that the telephone booth in question was inside a restaurant. The defendant was not charged in the information with entering the restaurant building, but with entering a building consisting of the telephone booth, inside the restaurant building." The Court held that the offense was not made out because the telephone booth was not a "building" notwithstanding the information described it as a "building, to-wit: a telephone booth containing a telephone", observing that "that which is not a building within the meaning and intendment of [the burglary statutes] ... would not be made so by an allegation in an information designating it as a building."

In Perry, the 1st District Court stated that "the principal question for our determination in this appeal is whether a telephone booth located outdoors is a building within the meaning of" the burglary statutes. In that case the information charged that the accused "entered without breaking `a certain building, to-wit: a telephone booth' ..., with intent to commit a misdemeanor, to-wit: petit larceny".

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259 So. 2d 739, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-state-fladistctapp-1972.