Case Name: Johnny Lee BELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1982-03-24
Citations: 411 So. 2d 319
Docket Number: No. 80-1136
Parties: Johnny Lee BELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: COBB, J., concurs specially with opinion.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 411
Pages: 319–322

Head Matter:
Johnny Lee BELL, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 80-1136.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
March 24, 1982.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Lynda Campbell, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Evelyn D. Golden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Dayto-na Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
SHARP, Judge.
Appellant, Bell, was charged by information with trafficking in illegal drugs, sale of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance. Trial by jury was held and Bell was found guilty as charged. He was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to fifteen years on the trafficking count, ten years on the sale count and five years on the possession count. Bell appealed contending the trial court erred in sentencing him on all three counts. We agree and vacate the two sentences for the sale and possession of controlled substances.
Anyone who knowingly sells or is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of illegal drugs is guilty of trafficking in illegal drugs. § 893.135(l)(c), Fla.Stat. (1979). Trafficking may be proven either by the sale or by the possession of illegal drugs. Section 893.13(l)(a) prohibits the sale of a controlled substance and section 893.13(l)(e) prohibits the actual or constructive possession of a controlled substance. In this case there was only one sale of drugs involved.
The sale and possession of illegal drugs constituted a violation of the trafficking offense, and the same elements (sale and possession) were involved in the other two offenses. Therefore, only the sentence for the more serious offense — trafficking—can stand. A contrary holding by us would create double jeopardy problems. State v. Hegstrom, 401 So.2d 1343 (Fla.1981); Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). Accordingly, the sentences for sale and possession of a controlled substance are vacated. We affirm the convictions and the sentence for trafficking in illegal drugs.
AFFIRMED in part and VACATED in part.
COBB, J., concurs specially with opinion.
COWART, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with opinion.
. § 893.13(l)(a), 893.13(l)(e), 893.135(l)(c), Fla.Stat. (1979).
. § 893.13(l)(a), 893.13(l)(e), Fla.Stat. (1979).
. Bartee v. State, 401 So.2d 890 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981).