Amaker v. State, BG-54
| Decision Date | 10 July 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. BG-54,BG-54 |
| Citation | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1508,492 So.2d 419 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1508 Gregory AMAKER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Michael E. Allen, Public Defender and Carl S. McGinnes, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and John W. Tiedemann, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
Appellant Gregory Amaker appeals his conviction on two counts of battery of a law enforcement officer under Section 784.07, Florida Statutes (1983) and two counts of resisting an officer with violence under Section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1983). The issues on appeal are whether the trial court erred in denying appellant's requested jury instruction on self-defense, and whether the trial court erred in denying appellant's motion for judgment of acquittal as to the two counts of resisting an officer with violence. We affirm the denial of the jury instruction but reverse the trial court's denial of appellant's motion for judgment of acquittal.
First, we find no reversible error in the trial court's denial of the requested jury instruction. The testimony at trial pointed only to a defense of intoxication and a jury instruction on intoxication was given.
Second, we reverse appellant's conviction on the two counts of resisting an officer with violence under Section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1983) 1 as the denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal was erroneous. Counts III and IV of the information allege that appellant struck two state correctional officers, thereby violating Section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1983). At trial appellant moved for a judgment of acquittal arguing that the alleged victims, being state correctional officers, were not within the protection of the statute. We agree.
Section 843.01, Florida Statutes (1983) enumerates specific categories of law enforcement officers but not state correctional officers. Penal statutes are to be strictly construed in favor of the person against whom a penalty could be imposed. Ferguson v. State, 377 So.2d 709, 711 (Fla.1979). Furthermore, the legislative history of Section 843.01, Florida Statutes reveals that the original House of Representatives Bill No. 252 sought to include within the statute the general term "correctional officers" defined pursuant to Section 944.58(1), Florida Statutes pursuant to Section 944.58(1), Florida Statutes (1979), as any person employed by this state or any subdivision thereof whose responsibility is the supervision, protection, care, custody, and control of inmates within the correctional institutions of this state. .
Upon reaching the Senate, House Bill No. 252 was amended to specifically enumerate "county and municipal correctional officers" within the list of officers whom it is a felony to resist with violence, , and to delete any reference to a definition of "correctional officers" under Section 944.58(1), Fla.Stat. (1979). The House concurred in the Senate amendment and the amendment was passed as such. (Fla.H.R.Journal, p. 1209, Reg.Sess. June 6, 1979).
We do not know why the legislature excluded state correctional officers from protection under this statute. However, the function of the court is to interpret the law, not to legislate. Holley v....
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Broxson v. State, BK-296
...See also Thompson v. State, 493 So.2d 1081 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Graydon v. State, 492 So.2d 723 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Amaker v. State, 492 So.2d 419 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). Therefore, we reverse the trial court's denial of motion for judgment of acquittal on the Count IV charge of resisting a s......
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Powell v. State, BH-63
...843.01. See Thompson v. State, 493 So.2d 1081 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Graydon v. State, 492 So.2d 723 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Amaker v. State, 492 So.2d 419 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). In accordance with these decisions we therefore reverse appellant's convictions and vacate the sentences BOOTH, C.J., a......
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State v. Graydon
...the certified question in the negative and approve the First District Court of Appeal's decisions in this cause and in Amaker v. State, 492 So.2d 419 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). In the instant case, the appellant, Marvin Graydon, a Union Correctional Institution inmate, had a physical encounter wi......
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C.L. v. State, 96-1028
...that penal statutes are to be strictly construed in favor of the person against whom the penalty could be imposed. Amaker v. State, 492 So.2d 419 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied, 497 So.2d 1218 (Fla.1986). In this case however, a careful reading of the applicable statutes, specifically sectio......