Slack v. State

30 So. 3d 684, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 3844, 2010 WL 1076284
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 25, 2010
Docket1D07-6305
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 30 So. 3d 684 (Slack 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
Slack v. State, 30 So. 3d 684, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 3844, 2010 WL 1076284 (Fla. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

BENTON, J.

On consideration of appellee’s motion for rehearing and/or clarification, we withdraw our prior opinion and substitute the following.

Sidney Marcellus Slack appeals his conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer in violation of section 316.1935(2), Florida Statutes (2006), on grounds the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal. He contends the state failed to prove that the *686 vehicle he fled prominently displayed agency insignia. We agree that, because of this failure of proof, the trial court erred in denying the motion for judgment of acquittal. While we reverse on this basis, we remand for entry of a judgment of conviction for violation of section 316.1935(1), Florida Statutes (2006), on the authority of section 924.34, Florida Statutes (2009).

Mr. Slack was charged with violating section 316.1935(2), Florida Statutes (2006), which provides:

Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights activated commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(Emphasis added.) The state attempted to prove the charged offense through the testimony of Deputy Sheriff Andrew Stone.

Deputy Stone testified that, on September 29, 2006, he passed an oncoming two-door Mercury vehicle, noticed in his rear-view mirror that the vehicle’s taillights were not working, turned around and decided to initiate a traffic stop. He testified he was driving a “marked patrol car, lights on top,” and was wearing a uniform at the time — the same one he was wearing at the trial. He testified that, to make the Mercury stop, he “engaged” his exterior lights and activated his siren.

At the close of the state’s case in chief, Mr. Slack moved for judgment of acquittal. Defense counsel argued, “I don’t believe there was any testimony about the insignia on the vehicle. I have a case on that that says they must establish this was a law enforcement vehicle that has a law enforcement insignia.” In arguing the motion, defense counsel highlighted Gorsuch v. State, 797 So.2d 649 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001), a case involving three police vehicles, two of which were unmarked and one of which bore a 15-inch City of Miami seal. Id. at 651. In Gorsuch, there was no evidence that any of the vehicles exhibited agency insignia or that any sirens had been activated. Id. The Third District reversed the defendant’s conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, concluding, “while the facts demonstrate a willful attempt to elude police, ... the facts do not support the officers were ‘in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings ... with sirens ... activated.’ Id. (emphasis in original).

In the present case, the trial judge denied the motion for judgment of acquittal, reasoning: “He did refer it was a marked patrol vehicle, and he did identify himself as a member of the sheriffs department. I know by Florida law their patrol vehicles must be marked in a certain scheme as required by Florida law.” In due course, the jury was later instructed it had to find that “[t]he law enforcement officer was in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle and with siren and lights activated,” in order to convict under section 316.1935(2).

On review of an order denying a motion for judgment of acquittal, we “must apply the competent, substantial evidence standard and ‘consider the evidence and all reasonable inferences from the evidence in a light most favorable to the [S]tate.’ ” State v. Konegen, 18 So.3d 697, 699 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (quoting Jones v. State, 790 So.2d 1194, 1197 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) (en banc) (citations omitted)). Considering the evidence in this way, we review de novo the legal issue a trial court’s ruling *687 on a motion for judgment of acquittal presents. See, e.g., Pagan v. State, 830 So.2d 792, 803 (Fla.2002) (citing Tibbs v. State, 397 So.2d 1120 (Fla.1981)).

While Deputy Stone testified he was driving a “marked patrol car” with “lights on top” and that he activated his lights and siren, there was no evidence of “agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle.” § 316.1935(2), Fla. Stat. (2006). That not all markings on law enforcement vehicles constitute agency insignia was made clear in Gorsuch. By neglecting to adduce any evidence that Deputy Stone’s vehicle had agency insignia or other jurisdictional markings, the state failed to make out a prima facie case of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer in violation of section 316.1935(2), and the trial court erred in denying Mr. Slack’s motion for judgment of acquittal.

The State argues, however, that it also proved and the jury also necessarily found the appellant guilty of violating section 316.1935(1), which the state argues 1 should be deemed a lesser-included offense:

It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, having knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully to refuse or fail to stop the vehicle in compliance with such order or, having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully to flee in an attempt to elude the officer, and a person who violates this subsection commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s.775.082, s.775.083, or s.775.084.

§ 316.1935(1), Fla. Stat. (2006). We agree the fact that section 316.1935(1) is punishable in the same fashion as section 316.1935(2) is not determinative. See Sanders v. State, 944 So.2d 203, 207 (Fla.2006) (“Ray[ v. State, 403 So.2d 956 (Fla.1981) ] does not require that the lesser included offense be lesser both in degree and in penalty.”).

In Sanders, the defendant was charged with attempted first-degree murder and convicted of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, a lesser-included offense that normally carried a shorter maximum sentence but, with the application of the ten-twenty-life statute, the two offenses carried the same maximum sentence. Id. at 205. While subsections (1) and (2) of section 316.1935 are punishable in the same fashion without regard to any enhancement statute, we have interpreted Sanders in a way that makes this immaterial. See Carle v. State, 983 So.2d 693, 695 (Fla.

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Bluebook (online)
30 So. 3d 684, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 3844, 2010 WL 1076284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slack-v-state-fladistctapp-2010.