State v. Brown

101 So. 2d 599, 1958 Fla. App. LEXIS 2719
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided March 19, 1958·No. No. 286·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

ALLEN, Acting Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by the State from a judgment dated April 23, 1957, which quashed a grand jury indictment against Joe P. Brown, charging the defendant with resisting arrest.

The questioned indictment is as follows:

“In the Name and by Authority of .the State of Florida:
“The Grand Jurors of the State of Florida, empaneled and sworn to inquire and true presentment make in and for the County of Collier, upon’ their oath do present that Joe P. Brown, late of the County of Collier and State of Florida, on the 2nd day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-six, in the County and State aforesaid, did knowingly and willfully resist, obstruct, and oppose Robert C. Garrison and W. B. Williamson, Conservation Agents, sometimes known as Wild Life Officers and Game Wardens, being duly authorized agents under the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission of the State of Florida, in a lawful execution of their legal duty, to-wit: The arresting of the said Joe P. Brown, for the offense of hunting with a headlight and a shotgun in the night time in the aforesaid State and County, which offense was then and there committed in the presence of the said Robert C. Garrison and W. B. Williamson, by offering to do violence to the person of the said Robert C. Garrison and W. B. Williamson with a pistol, contrary to the statute in such case made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Florida.”

The order of the court quashing the indictment is as follows:

“This cause came on this day to be heard upon the defendant’s Motion to Quash the Indictment filed herein and the Court, having heard argument of counsel and being fully advised in the premises, finds that the said Indictment fails to allege the necessary elements of the offense attempted to be charged and it is, thereupon,
“Ordered and Adjudged that the defendant’s Motion to Quash be, and the same is hereby, granted and the Indictment filed herein be, and the same is hereby, quashed.”

While the indictment against the defendant was for resisting arrest by offering to do violence to the persons of the arresting officers, the officers making the arrest had. [601] no warrant for the apprehension of the defendant. Therefore, under the allegations of the indictment, the legality of the arrest allegedly resisted by defendant was based on the reliance of the arresting officers upon the fact that defendant was ■violating the law of the State of Florida in their presence, authorizing them to make ■said arrest without a warrant. Consequently, the validity of the indictment depends ■on whether or not the allegations of the indictment charge a crime under the laws ■of this State.

The crime attempted to be charged was ■that the defendant was engaged in an ■offense under the regulations of the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission of Florida, specifically, Rule 16 which reads .as follows:

“Manner and Time of Taking Game Defined. Unlawful Methods and Devices Prohibited.
“The possession of a gun and a light .at night either by one person or by two or more persons then and there in the presence of each other for the purpose of taking birds, reptiles, amphibians, game animals or any other form of wild life be and it is hereby prohibited. The possession of a gun and a light at night either by one person or by two •or more persons then and in the presence of each other shall constitute prima facie evidence of possession of said gun and light for the purpose of taking birds, reptiles, amphibians, game animals or any other form of wild life.” (Italics ours.)

The Supreme Court of Florida has held that the violation of a lawful regulation of the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commis■sion is a misdemeanor. See Bronson v. State, Fla.1955, 83 So.2d 849.

It will be observed that the word “hunting” is not used in this regulation. The indictment predicates the authority for the arrest of the defendant upon the alleged act “of hunting with a headlight and a shotgun in the night time”. If the word “hunting” is synonymous with the word “taking”, then the indictment would be sufficient and the lower court would have erred in sustaining the motion of the defendant to quash the information.

Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d ed., unabr., 1957) defines the verb “hunt” in part as follows:

“1. As akin to capture, to try to get, to seize; to follow or search for game, etc. 2. To search diligently after, to seek; pursue, follow. 3. To drive; chase; hence, to follow up with, or as with persecutions or annoyances. 4. To use or traverse in pursuit of game; as, he hunts the words; hence, to search carefully, as he hunted the house for the papers; also to follow up, as a trail.”

In the recent case of Gibbs v. Mayo, Fla. 1955, 81 So.2d 739 the Supreme Court, in a habeas corpus proceeding, discharged a petitioner who had pled guilty to an information which charged that he unlawfully broke and entered “a motor vehicle” with the intent then and there to commit a felony, to-wit: grand larceny. The Statute F.S.A. § 860.12, under which the defendant was charged prohibited the breaking and entering of “any automobile, truck, trailer, semitrailer, or house car * * The Court, in its decision, said:

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State v. Brown, 101 So. 2d 599, 1958 Fla. App. LEXIS 2719 (Fla. Ct. App. 1958).

101 So. 2d 599 (State v. Brown) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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