Victor Joseph Johnson v. the State of Florida

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: August 13, 2025
• Docket: 3D2024-1303
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed August 13, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D24-1303 Lower Tribunal No. A2WQDOE ________________

Victor Joseph Johnson, Appellant,

vs.

The State of Florida, Appellee.

An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Cristina Rivera Correa, Judge.

Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Jennifer Thornton, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Camilo Montoya, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Before LINDSEY, GORDO, and GOODEN, JJ.

PER CURIAM. This is a timely appeal of a misdemeanor conviction in Miami-Dade

County Court for Driving While License Suspended following a bench trial.

Appellant Johnson argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his

conviction because the State could not prove an essential element:

Johnson’s actual knowledge that his driving privilege was suspended or

revoked. The State claims that the evidence was sufficient because the

Driving Record that listed all the suspensions and mailed notices also listed

his most recent address provided to the Department of Highway Safety and

Motor Vehicles as of the date of printing. Additionally, evidence in Johnson’s

Driving Record supports the reasonable inference that he had knowledge his

license was under suspension, revocation, or equivalent status because

Johnson’s Driving Record does not indicate that he ever got his license

reinstated, and in fact reflects that a drug-related revocation is still in effect.

Because Johnson never got a valid license following his revocation, his

driving privilege remains revoked. See State v. Green, 747 So. 2d 1007,

1008 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (“Florida Statutes section 322.01(35)(1997) defines

revocation as ‘the termination of a licensee’s privilege to drive.’ . . . When the

defendant’s license was revoked, his driving privileges were terminated, not

temporarily withdrawn for the five-year period. When the five-year revocation

period expired, the defendant’s driver’s license did not magically reappear.

2 Although he was eligible to get his license restored, he needed to take

affirmative steps to get his driving privileges reinstated. Because he never

sought reinstatement of his driving privileges, his license remained revoked

even past the expiration of the five-year period.”).

Affirmed.