Pennick v. StatePennick v. State
The defendant‘s sole point on appeal is that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for judgment of acquittal, such motion specifically contending that the State‘s proof of venue was insufficient as a matter of law. We agree with the defendant and reverse his conviction.
The well-settled principles of law applicable to this case are not in dispute. The allegation in the charging document that the offense occurred within a named county is a material allegation of the charge which must be proved by the State. Smith v. State, 29 Fla. 408, 10 So. 894 (1892); Cook v. State, 20 Fla. 802 (1884); Robinson v. State, 20 Fla. 804 (1884); Bryan v. State, 19 Fla. 864 (1883). See State v. Black, 385 So.2d 1372 (Fla. 1980). However, unlike essential elements of the crime, venue need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, Collingsworth v. State, 93 Fla. 1110, 113 So. 561 (1927); Lowman v. State, 80 Fla. 18, 85 So. 166 (1920); Hopkins v. State, 52 Fla. 39, 42 So. 52 (1906); Smith v. State, 10 So. 894; Warrace v. State, 27 Fla. 362, 8 So. 748 (1891); Andrews v. State, 21 Fla. 598 (1885); Ball v. State, 204 So.2d 523 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967); Chaudoin v. State, 118 So.2d 569 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960), but instead is sufficiently proved “if the jury can reasonably infer from the evidence that the crime was committed in the alleged jurisdiction.” Ball v. State, 204 So.2d at 524. See Andrews v. State, 21 Fla. 598. Thus, proof of venue is sufficient where the evidence includes “references to various localities and landmarks at or near the scene of the [crime], known by or probably familiar to the jury, from which, under the liberal rule laid down by the courts, they may have reasonably concluded that the offense was committed in [the alleged] county,” Andrews v. State, 21 Fla. at 611. See Kennedy v. State, 140 Fla. 124, 191 So. 193 (1939) (venue sufficiently established by testimony that offense at 300 East Fisher Street apparently near the federal building in Pensacola); Timmons v. State, 97 Fla. 23, 119 So. 393 (1929) (same; testimony that offense
Turning now to the present case, the State contends that the evidence which sufficiently proves that the offense was committed in Dade County, as alleged,1 is that first, the offense was said to have occurred at a location variously described by witnesses as “the County Line Road,” “near the County Line dump,” and “at 215th Street and 47th Avenue“; second, other testimony revealed that the victim of the shooting was taken to and treated at a hospital located in Dade County; and third, it was shown that personnel from the Dade County Sheriff‘s Office went to the hospital to investigate the incident. We must reject the State‘s contention.
Notwithstanding that the locality described as “the County Line Road” or “215th Street and 47th Avenue” and the landmark called “the County Line dump” may have been known by or were probably familiar to the jury, it is apparent that, under the unique circumstances of this case, the jury could not reasonably conclude that the offense occurred in Dade County when the descriptions themselves lead to the equally compelling conclusion that the offense occurred in Broward County.2 Similarly, evidence that the victim of the shooting was treated at a hospital located in Dade County hardly serves to prove the venue of the crime. As the court observed in Smith v. State, 27 So. 868, the fact that the victim was removed to a hospital in Tallahassee after being assaulted, “[e]ven under the very liberal rules regulating proof of venue prevailing in this
Finally, it hardly need be said that the fact that law enforcement personnel from Dade County investigated the incident at a hospital in Dade County to which the victim had been taken proves nothing about the locus of the crime. The State might as well suggest that because the information alleges that the crime occurred in Dade County, because the case was in fact prosecuted by the State Attorney‘s Office of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, or because the case was tried in Dade County before a judge of that same circuit, a jury could reasonably conclude therefrom that the crime occurred in Dade County. Were it that venue could be so established, the need to prove venue would be no more.
Reversed with directions to discharge the defendant.