State v. Smith

Full title: STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellant, v. CHARLES H. SMITH, JR., Appellee

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District

Date published: Jun 8, 2001

794 So. 2d 651 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

Opinion

No. 2D00-3002.

Opinion filed June 8, 2001.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Pinellas County; Philip I. Federico, Judge.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Erica M. Raffel, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellant.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Brad Permar, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellee.

NORTHCUTT, Judge.

The facts of this case are essentially identical to the facts in State v. Warren, 755 So.2d 145 (Fla. 1st DCA), review granted, 767 So.2d 461 (Fla. 2000). We affirm the circuit court's dismissal of the felony battery charge against Smith on the authority of Warren. We also certify the same question certified in Warren:

CAN A CONVICTION FOR AGGRAVATED BATTERY SERVE AS A PRIOR CONVICTION FOR BATTERY FOR PURPOSES OF SECTION 784.03(2), FLORIDA STATUTES?

Affirmed, question certified.

DANAHY, PAUL W. (Senior) Judge, Concurs.

PATTERSON, C.J., Dissents with opinion.

PATTERSON, Chief Judge, Dissenting.

I agree with Judge Kahn's dissent in State v. Warren, 755 So.2d 145, 147-148 (Fla. 1st DCA) (Kahn, J., dissenting), review granted, 767 So.2d 461 (Fla. 2000), and would hold that convictions for aggravated battery can serve as prior convictions for purposes of section 784.03(2), Florida Statutes (1999). I would reverse the dismissal of this case and remand for further proceedings.