Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...ights by arresting her without arguable probable cause for allegedly having failed to report child abuse in violation of Florida Statute § 415.513, having made allegedly false reports to law enforcement authorities in violation of Florida Statute § 837.05, and allegedly being an accessory after the fact in violation of Florida Statute § 777.03....

...ll outside the scope of the plain language of § 777.03. This record makes clear that there was no arguable probable cause to arrest Hogan on this charge. c) Making False Reports Finally, Savaiko charged Hogan pursuant to Florida Statute § 837.05, which states, "Whoever knowingly gives false information to any law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of any crime is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree...." Savaiko claims that, at the time of Hogan's arres...

...Indeed, the record indicates that Savaiko saw that Hogan was reading from notes prepared by another Retreat Ranch employee. [Savaiko Depo., Vol. I, at 117, 123] Therefore, in accordance with Von Stein, we cannot state that Savaiko had arguable probable cause to arrest Hogan pursuant to Florida Statute § 837.05. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court's denial of Savaiko's motion for summary judgment as it relates to the arrest of Hogan. 2) Search Warrants In conjunction with this same incident, Savaiko obtained a...

...During the investigation, it became clear that Ms. Boland suffered from serious psychological problems and that her report was false. As a result of this false report, the State charged Ms. Boland with knowingly giving false information about a capital felony to the deputy in violation of section 837.05(2), Florida Statutes (2002), a third-degree felony....

...Boland requested that the court instruct the jury on the misdemeanor offense of "false report of commission of crimes" described in section 817.49, Florida Statutes (2002), asserting that this was a lesser-included offense of the offense described in section 837.05(2)....

...t a reasonable doubt of sanity in the minds of the jurors). Of the remaining issues presented, we conclude the dispositive issue concerns the failure of the trial court to instruct on a lesser offense. *685 Ms. Boland was charged with a violation of section 837.05(2)....

...l felony, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. This offense is a relatively new crime, having been created by the legislature in 1997. See ch. 97-90, § 5, Laws of Fla. Prior to 1997, section 837.05 contained only one subsection, which was similar to the current subsection 837.05(1)....

...That subsection now provides: (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), whoever knowingly gives false information to any law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of any crime, commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Subsection 837.05(1) establishes an offense that is virtually identical to the offense defined in section 817.49....

...at no such crime had actually been committed, shall upon conviction thereof be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Perhaps the only difference between the misdemeanor offenses described in section 837.05(1) and section 817.49 is that the latter would appear to permit a conviction for indirectly providing false information to a police officer, while the former might be interpreted as requiring the defendant to directly give the information to the officer....

...At the charge conference, the trial court was prepared for the issue of lesser-included offenses. The trial judge had examined the Schedule of Lesser Included Offenses that is published with the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases. He correctly observed that the schedule announced that the offense in section 837.05 had no lesser offenses. As a result, defense counsel was unable to convince the trial court to provide an instruction on a lesser offense. Unfortunately, the published schedule was last amended in July 1998. It refers only to section "837.05" without distinguishing between subsections (1) and (2). The schedule clearly had not been updated to address the amendment to section 837.05 that created the third-degree felony offense with which Ms....

...and (b) a finding of guilt on the offense would be supported by the evidence submitted at trial. See State v. Wimberly, 498 So.2d 929, 931 (Fla.1986). 718 So.2d at 310. We conclude that the first-degree misdemeanors described in sections 817.49 and 837.05(1) are necessarily lesser-included offenses of the third-degree felony offense described by section 837.05(2). One who knowingly provides false information to a police officer regarding a capital felony, as described in section 837.05(2), has necessarily committed the crime of knowingly giving false information to a police officer "concerning the alleged commission of any crime," see § 837.05(1), and has "willfully impart[ed] ......

...In this case, it is likely that the error would be reversible even if it were subjected to a harmless error analysis. We therefore reverse Ms. Boland's conviction and remand for a new trial at which the trial court must give instructions on the lesser-included offense described either in section 817.49 or section 837.05(1). Ms. Boland also challenges the trial court's instruction regarding the elements of the offense proscribed by section 837.05(2). As noted above, there is no standard instruction on subsection 837.05(2)....

...We provide these observations only to assist the trial court in drafting instructions on remand. It might be helpful if the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases provided standard instructions for the offenses in section 837.05 and amended the schedule of lesser offenses to reflect the two degrees of this crime....

...e charged, we reverse and remand for a new trial. Reversed and remanded. NORTHCUTT and CANADY, JJ., Concur. NOTES [1] Interestingly, there is a standard jury instruction for section 817.49, but no standard instruction for either offense contained in section 837.05. See Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Crim.) 21.4 (entitled "False Reports of Commissions of Crime"). In the schedule of lesser offenses, however, there is a reference only to section 837.05 and no reference to section 817.49.

...ing his handling of the investigation to discuss what had occurred. After this meeting, Judge filed a probable cause affidavit against Beizer, setting forth the facts recited above and listing the charge as "false report to a police officer," citing section 837.05, Florida Statutes (1995)....

...398, 466 A.2d 1276, 1285 (1983), (quoting In re Leroy T., 285 Md. 508, 403 A.2d 1226, 1229 (1979)) (emphasis added). Thus, there was no probable cause to support a charge of obstruction of justice. As to the crime of filing a false report, the trial court determined that Officer Judge lacked probable cause. Section 837.05, Florida Statutes (1991) provides that "[w]hoever knowingly gives false information to any law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of any crime is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree...." After the accident occurred, Mr....

...Beizer replied "I guess so," without telling Officer Judge of the trooper's investigation and release of Mr. Weatherspoon. Although this might constitute verbal acquiescence to an untrue statement, we, like the trial court, cannot conclude that it is the affirmative act of giving false information. A violation of section 837.05 "occurs only when someone lies to a police officer concerning the alleged commission of any crime." Madiwale v....

...n, decryption, transmission, retransmission. Lesser Included Offenses No lesser included offenses have been identified for this offense. Comment This instruction was adopted in 2007. 21.5 GIVING FALSE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME § 837.05(1), Fla....

...1991) on how to instruct the jury on who qualifies as a law enforcement officer. See section 843.01, Fla. Stat, for a list of law enforcement officers. This instruction was adopted in 2007. 21.6 GIVING FALSE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMMISSION OF A CAPITAL FELONY § 837.05(2), Fla....

...w enforcement officer, such as deputy sheriff or *821 police officer) is a law enforcement officer. Lesser Included Offenses --------------------------------------------------- GIVING FALSE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMMISSION OF A CAPITAL FELONY —837.05(2) --------------------------------------------------- CATEGORY CATEGORY FLA. INS. ONE TWO STAT. NO. --------------------------------------------------- Giving False Information Concerning A Crime 837.05(1) 21.5 --------------------------------------------------- False Reports of Commissions of Crime 817.49 21.4 --------------------------------------------------- Comment See Wright v....

...It would be anomalous indeed to conclude that the Legislature intended that a false sworn statement concerning the alleged commission of a crime be punished to the same degree as the giving of unsworn false information to a law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of a crime, a first-degree misdemeanor under Section 837.05, Florida Statutes (1981).

...As such, on July 28, 2014, the State Attorney's Office filed a "No Information" to drop the charges against Benoit. See Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial (Doc. 3; Complaint) ¶ 35. The State Attorney's Office also charged Melissa with filing a false police report in violation of Florida Statute section 837.05....

..."capital felony" in section 837.02(2) as having any meaning other than the specialized, legal meaning it had in the context of the Florida Criminal Code at the time section 837.02(2) was adopted. Cf. Boland v. State, 893 So. 2d 683, 684 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (assuming that section 837.05(2), Florida Statutes (2002), which criminalizes reporting false information "concerning the alleged commission of a capital felony," applied to reports of sexual battery on children under twelve because "[i]f the reports had been correct, the doctor would have been guilty of capital felonies")....

...The deputies instructed him to move the truck off the tracks and to wait for them at the end of the road while they continued their investigation. Instead, Barlow climbed into the truck and drove away. This incident was the basis for the two misdemeanor charges, giving a false report to a law enforcement officer, § 837.05(1), Fla....

...ted the rule prohibiting disclosure of the nature of the conviction to the jury; therefore, the trial court should have granted his motion for mistrial. We cannot agree. The crime of knowingly giving false information to any law enforcement officer, Section 837.05, Florida Statutes (1975), is found in the perjury chapter....

...It is unclear from the record before us whether she was prosecuted for a violation of section 837.021, Florida Statutes (2008), felony perjury by contradictory statements; section 837.012, Florida Statutes, misdemeanor perjury when not in an official proceeding; or section 837.05, Florida Statutes, misdemeanor false reports to law enforcement authorities....

...Estoppel Based on Untruthfulness PETA first argues that plaintiff is estopped from maintaining any civil action because of Yerk’s own wrongful and illegal conduct, i.e., perjury to Lt. Rairden in violation of Fla. Stat. §§ 837.02 , 837.012 and 837.05....

...his K-9 partner. See State v. Diaz, 785 So.2d 744, 745-46 (2001) (To constitute perjury “it is insufficient that the statements are untrue or incorrect; the statements must have a bearing on a determination in the underlying case.”). 3 Finally, § 837.05 makes it illegal to give false information to any law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of any crime. Whether Yerk spoke to PETA does not “concern the commission” of Deputy Jelly’s alleged crime. Therefore, § 837.05 simply does not apply....

..." Gold, 121 F.3d at 1446. The only issue is whether, under the circumstances, a reasonable officer could have had probable cause to believe Plaintiff falsely reported Noicely violated the TRO, thereby violating the TRO, and/or Sections 817.49 and/or 837.05, Florida Statutes which make it a crime to falsely report the commission of a crime....

...rmation or report to be false, in that no such crime had actually been committed, shall upon conviction thereof be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.83. Fla. Stat. § 817.49. Similarly, under Section 837.05, Florida Statutes, "whoever knowingly gives false information to any law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of any crime, commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083." Violations of Sections 817.49 and/or 837.05 are punishable by up to one year imprisonment....

...in Opposition to Defendant's Motion For Summary Judgment [DE # 40], Ex. 1. [11] Indeed, under Florida law, it is a crime to knowingly make a false report concerning the alleged commission of a crime to a police officer. See Fla. Stat. §§ 817.49 & 837.05. Violations of Sections 817.49 and 837.05, Florida Statutes, are misdemeanors in the first degree....

to a charge of making a false report under section 837.05(1), Florida Statutes (2001). In summary, the

...enforcement officer” for the jury. This instruction was adopted in 1981 and amended in 2014. 15  21.5 GIVING FALSE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME § 837.05(1), Fla....

...Unless the false information concerns a capital offense (see Instruction 21.6), this crime is a misdemeanor of the first degree. However, if the defendant was previously convicted of this crime and if certain conditions were met, the crime becomes a third degree felony. See § 837.05(1)(b), Fla....

...You must now determine whether the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the following two elements: 16  1. (Defendant) was previously convicted of Giving False Information Concerning the Commission of a Crime in violation of Florida Statute 837.05(1). Give 2a and/or 2b as applicable. 2....

...1991) on how to instruct the jury on who qualifies as a law enforcement officer. See section 843.01, Fla. Stat, for a list of law enforcement officers. “Law enforcement officer” is not defined in chapter 837, Florida Statutes, or in case law interpreting and applying section 837.05....

...This instruction was adopted in 2007 [965 So. 2d 811] and amended in 2014. 17  21.6 GIVING FALSE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMMISSION OF A CAPITAL FELONY § 837.05(2), Fla....

...ion of law enforcement officer, such as deputy sheriff or police officer) is a law enforcement officer. Lesser Included Offenses GIVING FALSE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COMMISSION OF A CAPITAL FELONY — 837.05(2) CATEGORY ONE CATEGORY TWO FLA. STAT. INS. NO. Giving False Information 837.05(1) 21.5 Concerning A Crime False Reports of False Report of 817.49 21.4 Commissions of Crime Commission of Crime 18  Comment See Wright v....

...1991) on how to instruct the jury on who qualifies as a law enforcement officer. See Florida Statute § 843.01 for a list of law enforcement officers. “Law enforcement officer” is not defined in chapter 837, Florida Statutes, or in case law interpreting and applying section 837.05....

...end Commission meetings as a penalty. In all other respects, the final order is affirmed. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART. GRIFFIN and ORFINGER, JJ., concur. . § 812.014(2)(b), Fla. Stat. . § 817.233, Fla. Stat. . § 812.014(2)(b), Fla. Stat. . § 837.05, Fla....

...Your officers will commonly be confronted by individuals who willfully trespass upon private property. While trespassing is generally a misdemeanor offense, it is a felony of the third degree if the trespasser is armed with a firearm or other dangerous weapon during the commission of the offense. Section 837.05 — False reports to law enforcement authorities....

information to any law enforcement officer, Section 837.05, Florida Statutes (1975), is found in the perjury