Johnson v. State

Decision Date30 April 1992
Docket NumberNo. 77588,77588
PartiesRaymond JOHNSON, etc., Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent. 597 So.2d 798, 17 Fla. L. Week. S259
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender and Lynn A. Williams, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., James W. Rogers, Bureau Chief, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen. and Charlie McCoy, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review Johnson v. State, 574 So.2d 242 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), which certified the following question of great public importance:

WHEN A DOUBLE JEOPARDY VIOLATION IS ALLEGED BASED ON THE CRIMES OF GRAND THEFT OF PROPERTY (BETWEEN $300 AND $20,000) AND OF A FIREARM IN A SINGLE ACT, AND THE CRIMES OCCURRED

AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF SECTION 775.021, FLORIDA STATUTES (SUPP.1988), IS IT UNLAWFUL TO CONVICT AND SENTENCE FOR BOTH CRIMES?

Id. at 242. We rephrase the question as follows:

May a defendant be separately convicted and sentenced for grand theft of cash and grand theft of a firearm accomplished by means of snatching a purse that contained both cash and a firearm when the defendant did not know the nature of the purse's contents?

We have jurisdiction. Art. V, Sec. 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We answer the rephrased question in the negative and remand for further proceedings.

Raymond Johnson was convicted and sentenced for the crimes of burglary of a conveyance, grand theft of property (i.e., cash and payroll checks), and grand theft of a firearm. All of these crimes allegedly were committed when Johnson snatched a purse left in an unattended car at a gas station. That purse contained both money and a firearm, among other items. A filling station attendant identified Johnson as the man he had seen near the victim's car immediately before and after the snatching. An eye witness saw Johnson fleeing the scene.

The theft occurred when Johnson wrongfully took the property of another. He did this in one swift motion. The degree of the crime of theft depends on what was taken. Because of the value of the property, his crime was a third-degree felony. Because part of the goods he took was a firearm, his crime additionally is defined as a third-degree felony. Subsection 812.014(1), Florida Statutes (1989), defines the crime of theft, and subsection 812.014(2) sets the degree of the crime committed under subsection (1). We conclude that the value of the goods or the taking of a firearm merely defines the degree of the felony and does not constitute separate crimes. A separate crime occurs only when there are separate distinct acts of seizing the property of another.

We recognize that our views herein appear to be contrary to State v. Getz, 435 So.2d 789 (Fla.1983), wherein we upheld a third-degree felony conviction for the taking of a gun and a petit theft conviction for the taking of a calculator when both takings occurred during a household burglary. In Getz, however, there was a separate intent...

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23 cases
  • Gibbs v. State, 94-1244
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • 19 Junio 1996
    ...Sirmons is the head of a line of cases from the supreme court, including State v. Thompson, 607 So.2d 422 (Fla.1992), and Johnson v. State, 597 So.2d 798 (Fla.1992), dealing with double jeopardy and crimes involving penal variations on the essential act of theft. The two convictions in Sirm......
  • State v. Paul
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 22 Junio 2006
    ...of a firearm as degree variants because under statute "[t]he degree of the crime of theft depends on what was taken." Johnson v. State, 597 So.2d 798, 799 (Fla.1992). But we soon (and without explanation) reverted to the pre-amendment "same evil" test. In Sirmons, we classified two crimes a......
  • State v. Lust, 30786–7–III.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Washington
    • 21 Mayo 2013
    ...“merely degree variants of the same core offense.” Gorday, 907 So.2d at 644–45 (applying Fla. Stat. § 775.021(4)(b)(2); Johnson v. State, 597 So.2d 798 (Fla.1992)). But our Supreme Court “has repeatedly rejected the notion that offenses committed during a single transaction are necessarily ......
  • Gordon v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 22 Febrero 2001
    ...exception—offenses which are degrees of the same offense as provided by statute.3 We addressed varying degrees of crimes in Johnson v. State, 597 So.2d 798 (Fla.1992). In that case, the defendant was convicted of both grand theft of property and grand theft of a firearm for snatching a purs......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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