Case Name: B.B. NELSON, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, etc., Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1998-02-20
Citations: 707 So. 2d 378
Docket Number: No. 97-1249
Parties: B.B. NELSON, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, etc., Appellee.
Judges: GRIFFIN, C.J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 707
Pages: 378–380

Head Matter:
B.B. NELSON, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, etc., Appellee.
No. 97-1249.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Feb. 20, 1998.
Rehearing Denied March 10, 1998.
Robert R. Berry of Amari, Theriac & Ei-senmenger, P.A., Cocoa, for Appellant.
Geoffrey T. Kirk, Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Real Estate, Orlando, for Appellee.

Opinion:
COBB, Judge.
The appellant, B.B. Nelson, pled nolo con-tendere to charges of battery, a first degree misdemeanor, and criminal mischief, a second degree misdemeanor. It was alleged that he had set off a "smoke bomb" at the offices of the St. Johns River Water Management Office in Melbourne, Florida, as a political protest over actions of that agency. The trial court withheld adjudication and placed Nelson on probation for 18 months.
Based on those occurrences, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Real Estate, filed an administrative complaint requesting sanctions against Nelson, who was a licensed real estate broker. Specifically, the Department alleged that Nelson was in violation of section 475.25(1)©, Florida Statutes (1993), by being found guilty, regardless of adjudication, of "a crime which directly relates to the activities of a licensed real estate salesperson or involves moral turpitude or fraudulent or dishonest dealings." Ultimately, the Department found Nelson guilty of violating the statute, fined him, and placed him on probation for 90 days. That departmental order is the subject of the instant appeal.
Nelson contends that neither battery (by smoke) nor criminal mischief constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude or a fraudulent or dishonest dealing. He argues that moral turpitude involves "the idea of inherent baseness or depravity in the private social relations or duties owed by man to man or by man to society." See State ex rel. Tullidge v. Hollingsworth, 108 Fla. 607, 146 So. 660 (1933). Moral turpitude, says Nelson, involves more than simply committing some crime. The purpose of section 475.25, he contends, is to protect the public from dishonest real estate salesmen — and the two crimes with which he was charged do not impugn his honesty or ability to deal fairly with the public.
In Pearl v. Florida Board of Real Estate, 394 So.2d 189 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), the Third District held that possession of a controlled substance does not establish moral turpitude within the purview of section 475.25(l)(f). An example of moral turpitude would be a sale by a physician of bogus diplomas and licenses. State ex rel. Munch v. Davis, 143 Fla. 236, 196 So. 491 (Fla.1940). Bookmaking has been deemed a crime involving moral turpitude. Carp v. Florida Real Estate Commission, 211 So.2d 240 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968), writ discharged, 219 So.2d 427 (Fla.1969). We have held that manslaughter by culpable negligence is such a crime. Antel v. Department of Professional Regulation, Florida Real Estate Commission, 522 So.2d 1056 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988).
We agree with Nelson that the misdemeanor offenses for which he was convicted do not show a "baseness or depravity5' that impugn his ability to deal fairly with the public to the extent that suspension of his broker's license is warranted.
REVERSED.
GRIFFIN, C.J., concurs.
W. SHARP, J., concurs specially, with opinion.
. See § 784.03; 806.13, Fla. Stat. (1993).
. That statute provides:
475 .25 Disclipline.-
(1) The commission may deny an application for licensure, registration, or permit, or renewal thereof; may place a licensee, registrant, or permittee on probation; may suspend a license, registration, or permit for a period not exceeding 10 years; may revoke a license, registration, or permit; may impose an administrative fine not to exceed $1,000 for each count or separate offense; and may issue a reprimand, and any or all of the foregoing, if it finds that the licensee, registrant, permittee, or applicant:
(f) Has beeri convicted or found guilly of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction which directly relates to activities of a licensed broker or salesperson, or involves moral tuipi-tude or fraudulent or dishonest dealing. The record of a conviction certified or authenticated in such form as to be admissible in evidence under the laws of the state shall be admissible as prima facie evidence of such guilt.