Tyrone Randy Johnson, Jr. v. State of Florida, 228 So. 3d 1164

Tyrone Randy Johnson, Jr., a bail bond agent whose license was revoked, repossessed Felicia Sledge’s car after she defaulted on a loan that used the car title as collateral.
At repossession the vehicle contained personal items; Sledge reported the car and contents stolen and called police. Johnson and a co-worker had told police the repossession was for nonpayment.
Johnson was charged and convicted of (1) acting as a bail bond agent with suspended/revoked license, (2) grand theft of a motor vehicle, and (3) theft of property (later reduced to petit theft).
At trial Johnson moved for judgment of acquittal arguing lack of intent for grand theft auto and that the theft-of-property conviction violated double jeopardy; the trial court denied the motions.
The First DCA reviewed the sufficiency of evidence for intent de novo and also reviewed the double jeopardy claim de novo on undisputed facts.
The court affirmed the license-related conviction but reversed and remanded with instructions to vacate the convictions for grand theft auto and theft of property.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether State proved Johnson had the specific intent to steal the vehicle at time of taking	Johnson later told officer he wouldn’t return car; title had ``gift'' notation and his signature — evidence of felonious intent	Johnson repossessed openly as collateral for an unpaid loan and reported repossession to police; lacked felonious intent at time of taking	Reversed: State failed to prove requisite intent at time of taking; judgment of acquittal on grand theft auto required
Whether separate convictions for vehicle theft and theft of items inside violate double jeopardy	The taking of personal property occurred later (three days after repossession) when Johnson refused to allow Sledge to collect belongings, creating a separate offense	Personal items were in the car at the time of repossession; there was one continuous taking with single intent, so dual convictions punish the same act	Reversed: Dual convictions violated double jeopardy; vacate theft-of-property conviction

Pagan v. State, 830 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 2002) (standard of review for judgment of acquittal)
Redding v. State, 666 So. 2d 921 (Fla. 1995) (specific intent is essential element of theft)
Bartlett v. State, 765 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (good-faith belief in right to property negates intent)
Rodriguez v. State, 396 So. 2d 798 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (taking consistent with honest conduct defeats theft)
Ginn v. State, 26 So. 3d 706 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (open, unhidden taking gives presumption of no felonious intent)
Hayes v. State, 803 So. 2d 695 (Fla. 2001) (use separation in time/place/circumstance test for multiple takings)
Mixson v. State, 857 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (single taking of vehicle and contents supports one continuous act)
Beaudry v. State, 809 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002) (dual convictions for vehicle and items in vehicle violate double jeopardy)