State v. Rodriguez-Jimenez
Decision Date | 04 October 1983 |
Docket Number | No. 83-161,RODRIGUEZ-JIMENEZ and A,83-161 |
Parties | The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Amilcar Joseguedo Borrego-Estrada, Appellees. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Anthony C. Musto, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.
Roy E. Black and Guy W. Turner, Nathan & Williams and Douglas L. Williams, Miami, for appellees.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and DANIEL S. PEARSON and JORGENSON, JJ.
The State appeals from an order dismissing the conspiracy count of an indictment on the ground that it is so vague as to not fairly apprise the defendants of the charge against them. We reverse and remand with directions that the count be reinstated.
The dismissed count reads in its entirety:
The defendants successfully contended below, and contend here, that the conspiracy charge is in all respects similar to the charges found wanting in Goldberg v. State, 351 So.2d 332 (Fla.1977); Battle v. State, 365 So.2d 1035 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978), cert. denied, 376 So.2d 76 (1979); and State v. Giardino, 363 So.2d 201 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). We disagree.
"impossible to determine the nature of the charged conspiracy to wit: whether the defendant Giardino in concert with his co-defendants (a) accepted, or (b) agreed to accept, or (c) requested or solicited, a certain sum of money from (a) Kozich and Kozich, Inc., Don Thomas Kozich, and Ronald Joseph Flory, jointly, or (b) Kozich and Kozich, Inc., individually, or (c) Don Thomas Kozich, individually, or (d) Ronald Joseph Flory, individually, for the purpose of having the defendant Giardino and the co-defendant Tresvant vote as Opa Locka city commissioners in favor of (a) awarding a contract for the construction of a public works building for the City of Opa Locka to Kozich and Kozich, Inc., or (b) approving change orders submitted by Kozich and Kozich, Inc. in connection with the construction of the above-mentioned public works building, or (c) both awarding the above-stated contract and approving the above-stated change order." Id. at 203-04 (emphasis supplied).
The conspiracy charge in the present case alleges neither alternative conspiracies nor alternative objects. Instead, it charges the defendants, Rodriguez-Jimenez and Borrego-Estrada, with conspiring with Salaverria and Gonzalez and Borrego and others unnamed 2; and it forthrightly charges that the object of the conspiracy was the murder of Martinez. Thus, in our view, the case before us is controlled by State v. Smith, 240 So.2d 807 (Fla.1970), rather than the Goldberg-Battle-Giardino trilogy.
In Smith, the information charged that the defendant
"did then and there unlawfully combine, conspire, agree or confederate with each other and with JAMES PURKHISER, JOHN PHILEMON LUKE II, JOHN FRANCIS HENRY and HUBERT RAY STIDHAM to commit a felony punishable by death or imprisonment for life, to-wit: First Degree Murder, in that they combined, conspired, agreed or confederated on the 5th day of December, 1965 to then and there, unlawfully and feloniously and from a premeditated design, effect the death of MIGUEL ANGEL RIVERA, a human being." 240 So.2d at 808.
Holding that the information was "sufficient to advise the Defendant of 'the nature of the accusation against him' ... and the accused could plead his conviction to a subsequent indictment or information based on the same facts," id. at 810, the court explained:
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LaPolla v. State
...as soon as the title and the money were exchanged. An authority that deals with something akin to this argument is State v. Rodriguez-Jimenez, 439 So.2d 919 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). There the defendants argued that it was not possible to tell from the charge who of the defendants was supposed to......
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State v. Mena
...alleged in the alternative, thus making it impossible to determine the unlawful object of the charged conspiracy. State v. Rodriguez-Jimenez, 439 So.2d 919 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). As in Rodriguez-Jimenez, the conspiracy count in the present case, however, alleges neither alternative conspiracie......
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O'Connor v. State, 91-168
...or implied agreement or understanding, and that both the agreement and the intention to conspire must be present. State v. Rodriguez-Jimenez, 439 So.2d 919 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) holds that a defendant charged with conspiracy may be convicted of conspiring with persons whose names are unknown; ......
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George v. State
...unnamed coconspirator did exist and that the defendant conspired with him." O'Connor , 590 So.2d at 1020 (citing State v. Rodriguez–Jimenez , 439 So.2d 919 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) (additional citations omitted)). Here, other than the fact that Appellant went to two houses and returned with the c......