Easton v. State

Decision Date16 July 1971
Docket NumberNo. 70--372,70--372
Citation250 So.2d 294
PartiesHarold Edwin EASTON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Raymond E. LaPorte, of Ragano & LaPorte, Tampa, for appellant.

Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and P. A. Pacyna, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lakeland, for appellee.

McNULTY, Judge.

This appeal is from a conviction on each count of a six-count information charging violations of the Florida Securities Law, Ch. 517, F.S.A. Counts one, three and five alleged the unlawful sale by appellant of unregistered securities on January 29, 1969, February 8, 1969 and November 20, 1968, respectively. Counts two, four and six charged that appellant did unlawfully 'engage in business as a dealer,' without being registered as such dealer, on each of the above dates. He was sentenced to two years on each of the six counts, to run consecutively.

Appellant urges reversible error in both the conviction and the sentencing, but upon examination of the arguments with respect to the convictions we find them to be without merit. Reversible error does appear, however, in the imposition of the six sentences.

It is patent from the informations and the evidence at trial that each charge of unlawful sale was coupled with a companion charge of unlawfully engaging in business. It is also apparent that each such pair of charges arose from the one transaction. Put another way, the only evidence of 'engaging in business' without registration, on any given date charged, was the charged unlawful sale of securities on that date. Thus, each of counts one and two constitute a facet of one transaction; and the identical pairing may be made of counts three and four and of five and six, making three transactions in all.

Now, while each count charges a different 'offense,' it is well settled that '(i)n Florida, where an information contains more than one count, but each is a facet or phase of the same transaction, only one sentence may be imposed * * *.' 1 That is to say, a single transaction may violate two statutes and thus constitute two separate offenses; but, while convictions may be had on each, only one sentence is appropriate. In this case, therefore, it was error to impose more than one sentence for the same transaction on each of the three specified dates.

Accordingly, the judgments and convictions are affirmed, but the sentences are vacated and the cause is remanded with directions that the appellant be...

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20 cases
  • Edmond v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • June 27, 1973
    ...1971, 253 So.2d 273; Weeks v. State, Fla.App.3d 1971, 253 So.2d 459; Yost v. State, Fla.App.3d 1971, 243 So.2d 469; Easton v. State, Fla.App.2d 1971, 250 So.2d 294; Wyche v. State, Fla.App.2d 1965, 178 So.2d 875; Sharon v. State, Fla.App.3d 1963, 156 So.2d 677; Bullard v. State, Fla.App.1st......
  • Orange v. State, 75--1175
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • May 11, 1976
    ...delivery of possession made simultaneously or contemporaneously with the sale. Yost v. State, Fla.App.1971, 243 So.2d 469; Easton v. State, Fla.App.1971, 250 So.2d 294; Martin v. State, Fla.App.1971, 251 So.2d 283; Torres v. State, Fla.App.1972, 262 So.2d 458; Brown v. State, Fla.App.1972, ......
  • Davis v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 19, 1973
    ...crimes charged were facets of the same criminal act. 'On authority of Simmons v. State (151 Fla. 778, 10 So.2d 436) and Easton v. State (Fla.App., 250 So.2d 294), supra, the cause is remanded with directions that the sentence below be amended by eliminating therefrom the part sentencing def......
  • State v. Peavey, 75--534
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • December 10, 1975
    ...329, 65 Cal.Prtr. 651.3 See Rules 3.150 and 3.151, RCrP.4 See Yost v. State (Fla.App.3d, 1971), 243 So.2d 469.5 See Easton v. State (Fla.App.2d, 1971), 250 So.2d 294.6 See Cone v. State (Fla.1973), 285 So.2d 12.7 See Steele v. Mayo (Fla.1954), 72 So.2d 386.8 As to the latter case, See Jenki......
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