Case Name: Margaret MITCHELL, Petitioner, v. The STATE of Florida, Respondent
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1987-11-17
Citations: 516 So. 2d 22
Docket Number: No. 87-2386
Parties: Margaret MITCHELL, Petitioner, v. The STATE of Florida, Respondent.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and JORGENSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 516
Pages: 22–22

Head Matter:
Margaret MITCHELL, Petitioner, v. The STATE of Florida, Respondent.
No. 87-2386.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Nov. 17, 1987.
Charlton Stoner, Miami, for petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Yvette Rhodes Prescott, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and JORGENSON, JJ.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
The circuit court affirmed a county court non-jury finding and adjudication that the petitioner-defendant was guilty of the petit theft of certain cactus plants in an incident which arose from a prolonged dispute between neighbors. On this petition for cer-tiorari review, we find no evidence whatever of essential elements of the offense, including those that the defendant had "obtain[ed] or use[d]," § 812.014(1), Fla.Stat. (1985), the property in question or, in view of the unrebutted evidence that she believed in good faith that she had a right to the plants, that she possessed the requisite criminal intent. Rodriguez v. State, 396 So.2d 798 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); 16 FlaJur. 2d Criminal Law § 1389 (1979). Since the appellate approval of a judgment which is totally unsupported by the record constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of the law, Lee v. State, 374 So.2d 1094 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); 3 FlaJur. 2d Appellate Review § 515 (1978), the decision under review is quashed and the cause remanded with directions to require the county court to discharge the defendant.
Certiorari granted.
. See Rodriguez v. State, 396 So.2d 798, 800 n. 7 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) ("a controversy such as this seems more appropriately the subject of a civil action than a criminal prosecution").