Dixon v. State, 87-1054

• Decision Date: 18 January 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-1054,87-1054
• Citation: 14 Fla. L. Weekly 233,541 So.2d 637
• Parties: 14 Fla. L. Weekly 233 Leonard J. DIXON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 637

541 So.2d 637

14 Fla. L. Weekly 233

Leonard J. DIXON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 87-1054.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

Jan. 18, 1989.

Rehearing Denied April 27, 1989.

Louis O. Frost, Jr., Public Defender, and James T. Miller, Asst. Public Defender, Jacksonville, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Richard E. Doran, Bureau Chief, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

This cause is before us on appeal of appellant's convictions for uttering a forgery and dealing in stolen property. Appellant presents four issues for our review, three of which we affirm without discussion. The fourth issue is whether the court erred in denying appellant's motion for judgment of acquittal for dealing in stolen property, on the grounds that forging and cashing a stolen check is not dealing in stolen property.

The facts are that appellant tried to cash a $495 check at a credit union in Jacksonville. The check, which had been stolen two weeks earlier, was drawn on the account of a yacht sales company. The credit union's tellers had been alerted to watch for these checks, and the teller who dealt with appellant immediately recognized it for what it was. The check was made out to Dennis Moore, and appellant presented a credit union membership card and driver's license in that name. When the teller tried to stall appellant, he took back his check, membership card, and license, and waited for the supposed system malfunction to end. When he saw a police car pull up into the driveway, he became nervous and rapidly left. He was later found at a second-floor exit, trying to disarm a fire exit with a book of matches. He denied ever being in the credit union but was identified.

Appellant relies on the case of Grimes v. State, 477 So.2d 649 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), wherein this court reviewed the convictions of three men who were charged with food stamp fraud and dealing in stolen property. The basis of the dealing in stolen property charge was that the codefendants were trafficking in the food stamps by cashing them at grocery stores for food. This court reversed the convictions for dealing in stolen property because cashing the stamps for food amounted to personal use. Other "personal use" cases cited by the Grimes decision are Townsley v. State, 443 So.2d 1072 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) (auto stolen for personal use of thief), and Lancaster v. State, 369 So.2d 687 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978) (stolen engine put to use in thief's own van). The essence of the offense of dealing in stolen property, also referred to as "trafficking," is that the stolen property is being distributed or moved into the stream of commerce so as to have a detrimental effect beyond that of the original theft. A theft, followed by a personal, terminal use of the stolen property by the thief does not have the extra ingredient required for an offense under Section 812.019, Florida Statutes. The "personal use" cases are based on that principle.

Checks, on being cashed, are placed within the stream of commerce and they may be routed through several banks before reaching an ultimate destination. The ripple effect of a stolen, forged check may go beyond the original transfer, as the bogus instrument is subject to continued circulation. The stolen checks in this case thus differ significantly from the food stamps in Grimes. Additionally, cashing a check does not convert it into its ultimate, tangible form. It converts it into another intangible, money, which must be further traded. In this respect, cashing a stolen check for money is no different from any other sale of stolen goods where money is given in payment. We find no basis for application of the "personal use" cases here. Appellant's convictions are, accordingly, AFFIRMED.

BOOTH and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur.

ERVIN, J., concurs and dissents with written opinion.

ERVIN, Judge, concurring and dissenting.

I concur with the majority's opinion, except its treatment of appellant's motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of dealing in stolen property. As to that point I would reverse the trial court's denial of the motion. This issue, in my judgment, is controlled by Grimes v. State, 477 So.2d 649 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), where it was held a defendant could not be convicted of dealing in stolen property by knowingly tendering food stamps at a store in exchange for food, because such activity was evidence of theft only, and not of the crime of trafficking or dealing in stolen property, even if the transaction were achieved by some form of transfer, distribution, dispensation, or disposition of the item, as defined in Section 812.012(7)(b),...