Case Name: The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Manuel Ceferino DIAZ, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2002-02-13
Citations: 814 So. 2d 466
Docket Number: No. 3D01-1149
Parties: The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Manuel Ceferino DIAZ, Appellee.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and COPE, and GERSTEN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 814
Pages: 466–471

Head Matter:
The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Manuel Ceferino DIAZ, Appellee.
No. 3D01-1149.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Feb. 13, 2002.
Rehearing, Rehearing En Banc and Certification Denied May 14, 2002.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Michael J. Neimand, Assistant State Attorney; Katherine Fernandez Rundel, State Attorney, and Angelica D. Zayas, Assistant State Attorney, for appellant.
Tew, Cardenas, Reback, and C. Thomas Tew, and Joseph A. DeMaria; Bierman, Shohat, Loewy & Klein, Donald I. Bier-man, and Ira N. Loewy, for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and COPE, and GERSTEN, JJ.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
The State of Florida appeals the trial court's order dismissing one count of first degree grand theft against appellee, Manuel Ceferino Diaz ("defendant"), as time-barred. We affirm.
After Hurricane Andrew destroyed plants and trees throughout Miami-Dade County, the county solicited bids and contracted with the defendant, as president of Manuel Diaz Farms, Inc., to deliver and install new foliage. The county submitted 450 separate purchase orders to defendant's company from May 1993 through May 1995, each for specific foliage for a specific area. The contract could be terminated by either party at any time.
On May 5, 1999, the State charged Guillermo Antonio Cutie ("Cutie"), a public employee, with eight counts of official misconduct in relation to invoices submitted by Manual Diaz Farms, Inc. Over a year later, on August 24, 2000, the State charged the defendant with one count of first degree grand theft in violation of Section 812.014, Florida Statutes (1995), in connection with twenty-three invoices for payment issued to the county between July 7, 1994, and May 22, 1995. The defendant successfully moved to dismiss the charges on twenty-two of the invoices which were beyond the five-year statute of limitations for grand theft. See § 812,035(10), Fla. Stat. (1995). The State was permitted to amend the information to make reference only to the last invoice, dated May 22, 1995, which remained within the five-year statute of limitations under an earlier agreement by the parties to toll the statute of limitations on or about May 17, 2000. However, the State chose to appeal the dismissal.
Section 812.035(10) provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a criminal or civil action for grand theft may be commenced any time within five years after the cause of action accrues. The State contends that all twenty-three invoices were part of a common scheme or plan to defraud the county and should be treated as a continuing offense within the five-year statute.
We disagree, based upon a plain reading of Section 812.014. Section 812.014 provides that a person is guilty of grand theft if he knowingly obtains or uses the property of another with intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the other person of that right. The statute is silent on the issue of continuing offenses, with no suggestion that the legislature intended to make grand theft a continuing offense. See State v. King, 282 So.2d 162 (Fla.1973). See also O'Malley v. Mounts, 590 So.2d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)(noting language of current Section 812.014 is the same as the pre-amended version). Each invoice was a separate taking, concluding the specific work requested in each county purchase order. Therefore, only the final invoice, dated May 22, 1995, falls within the five-year statute of limitations.
We affirm the trial court's dismissal of the twenty-two counts, finding the State failed to charge the defendant within the five-year statute of limitations, despite its knowledge of inconsistencies in the Manual Diaz Farms's invoices as early as May 1999, the time of Cutie's indictment,
Affirmed,
SCHWARTZ, C.J., and GERSTEN, J., concur,