In this appeal of the trial court’s denial of appellant’s motion for postconviction relief from his convictions for three counts of grand theft, appellant claims that the convictions are void for lack of jurisdiction of the Office of Statewide Prosecutor. Specifically, he claims that because the information did not allege facts showing that the crimes were committed in two different judicial circuits, the convictions were void. We affirm, holding that the information alleged the necessary allegations of two-circuit involvement.
In 2004 appellant was charged with multiple crimes, all being prosecuted by the OSP. With respect to this case, the OSP charged him with 19 counts alleging various crimes. The information made general allegations that the offenses “occurred in two or more judicial circuits as part of a
In 2009, appellant filed a motion for postconviction relief claiming that his convictions were void because the information did not contain any facts setting forth the places within two or more judicial circuits where the criminal conduct occurred, and therefore it did not invoke the OSP jurisdiction. The state responded that it had alleged general allegations that the offenses were committed within two or more judicial circuits, which language was sufficient to invoke the OSP jurisdiction. See Winter v. State,
Where an information fails to allege the necessary jurisdictional allegations to support OSP jurisdiction, the information is fatally defective, and a resulting conviction is void. See Zanger,
The information filed in this case tracked the general language approved in Nuckolls and Winter to invoke the jurisdiction of the OSP. Even though the court in Winter found that the allegations in the information were adequate, it nevertheless allowed for the defense to challenge the factual basis of OSP jurisdiction by a properly filed motion to dismiss. The Winter court clarified that in such a case, the trial court should hold an evidentiary hearing to allow the court to determine whether the facts actually supported the jurisdictional allegations. Here, in contrast, during the plea colloquy the defense admitted that the state could prove the allegations of the complaint, including that the crimes oc
We distinguish Luger v. State,
Affirmed.
