Whitehurst v. State

Decision Date26 May 1932
Citation105 Fla. 574,141 So. 878
PartiesWHITEHURST v. STATE.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court

Error to Criminal Court of Record, Hillsborough County; W. Raleigh Petteway, Judge.

Tyree C. Whitehurst was convicted of practicing medicine without a license, and he brings error.

Reversed.

COUNSEL Zawadski & Pierce, of Tampa, for plaintiff in error.

Cary D Landis, Atty. Gen., and Roy Campbell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

OPINION

BROWN J.

Plaintiff in error was tried on an information containing two counts. The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged in the second count, judgment of conviction was entered, and plaintiff in error was sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for a year and a day. The defendant took writ of error.

The count of the information on which the conviction was based charged that the defendant, on a certain date, in Hillsborough county, 'did unlawfully practice medicine without having first obtained a license so to do.' The character or kind of license is not set forth--whether an occupational license, as provided for by sections 1050, 1226 Comp. Gen. Laws, or a license from the state board of medical examiners, as provided for under sections 3404, 3408, 3409, Comp. Gen. Laws. For practicing medicine without having first obtained an occupational license, the cost of which is fixed by section 1226 at $10 the penalty upon conviction is by fine not exceeding double the amount required for such license or imprisonment not exceeding six months (section 7435, Comp. Gen. Laws), while the penalty for practicing medicine, as defined in the statute, without being lawfully licensed and authorized so to do by the state board, being the offense specifically defined by the provisions of section 7704, Comp. Gen. Laws, is fixed by that statute to be by fine of not more than $1,000, or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. The trial court held that the second count of the information charged an offense against the latter statute, but reference to the language of the provisions of section 7704, Comp. Gen. Laws shows that the information was wholly insufficient to charge an offense under that statute. And, if the information could be held sufficient to charge an offense under section 7435, Comp. Gen. Laws, construed in connection with sections 1050 and 1226, penalizing the carrying on or conducting of any business or profession without first obtaining the required occupational license, we are confronted with the fact that there is no evidence in the record to sustain such charge, nor was the sentence imposed appropriate thereto. These are sufficient reasons for reversing the judgment of conviction without passing on the other contentions made in behalf of plaintiff in error. Here we have such fundamental errors appearing of record as we would not be authorized to ignore, even though not raised in the trial court, as was the case as to one of them.

It is contended, and not without good reason, that, where an indictment is so far...

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8 cases
  • Cilento v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • November 21, 1979
    ...constructions, the one which operates in favor of the life or liberty of the accused is to be preferred. See, e. g., Whitehurst v. State, 105 Fla. 574, 141 So. 878 (1932); Ex parte Bailey, 39 Fla. 734, 23 So. 552 I would hold, therefore, that section 893.13 punishes the conduct at issue as ......
  • Watts v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • November 10, 1983
    ...See, e.g., Earnest v. State, 351 So.2d 957 (Fla.1977); State ex rel. Lee v. Buchanan, 191 So.2d 33 (Fla.1966); Whitehurst v. State, 105 Fla. 574, 141 So. 878 (1932); Ex parte Bailey, 39 Fla. 734, 23 So. 552 Viewing Watts' convictions in this light, his possession of two knives was simultane......
  • State Ex Rel. Williams v. Coleman
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • April 4, 1938
    ...their meaning, the courts should resolve such doubt in favor of the citizen. See Ex parte Amos, 93 Fla. 5, 112 So. 289; Whitehurst v. State, 105 Fla. 574, 141 So. 878; Texas Co. v. Amos, 77 Fla. 327, 81 So. 471; Ex Kilgore, 106 Fla. 723, 143 So. 610; Maxcy, Inc. v. Mayo, 103 Fla. 552, 139 S......
  • La Russa v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • March 29, 1940
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