STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
Richard Allen JONES, Appellee.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee and W. Brian Bayly, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellant.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender and Brynn Newton, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellee.
ORFINGER, Judge.
Defendant was charged by information with burglary of a dwelling "... in the course of [which the defendant] was armed with ... a firearm." The verdict returned by the jury was that "The Defendant is GUILTY of Burglary of a dwelling While Armed as charged in the Information." At sentencing, the State urged the court to impose the mandatory minimum three year sentence pursuant to section 775.087(2), Florida Statutes (1987), but the court rejected that request. The State appeals and we reverse.
The evidence showed defendant and two other men entered a mobile home and removed, inter alia, a handgun and two rifles. The evidence was undisputed that the three perpetrators found two rifles and one handgun in the home, and that defendant took physical possession of the handgun and one rifle and carried them out of the home.
In rejecting the imposition of the mandatory minimum sentence the trial court relied on State v. Pilcher,
Defendant argues that the mandatory minimum three year sentence could not be imposed because the jury did not make a specific finding in answer to a specific question that he used a weapon in the *1162 commission of the offense. See State v. Overfelt,
The instant case is distinguishable from Hough v. State,
The trial court's refusal to impose the mandatory minimum sentence of three years for possession of a firearm during the commission of the burglary was error. We therefore reverse for imposition of the mandatory minimum sentence.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
DANIEL, J., concurs.
DAUKSCH, J., dissents with opinion.
DAUKSCH, Judge, dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
In my opinion the trial judge was correct. There was no specific finding by the jury that appellee personally, as opposed to vicariously, possessed the firearm. Vicarious possession is sufficient to convict but insufficient to warrant the mandatory minimum sentence. Hough v. State,
