Title: Guerrero v. State
Citation: 289 So. 2d 396
Docket Number: 44452
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: January 23, 1974

289 So. 2d 396 (1974)
Alberto GUERRERO, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.
No. 44452.

Supreme Court of Florida.
January 23, 1974.
Phillip A. Hubbart, Public Defender, and Mark King Leban, Asst. Public Defender, for petitioner.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Linda C. Hertz, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
CARLTON, Chief Justice:
Petitioner seeks certiorari review of a decision of the District Court of Appeal, Third District, reported at 281 So. 2d 557, which affirmed his conviction of petit larceny and breaking and entering a dwelling with intent to commit grand larceny. The petition reflected probable jurisdiction in *397 this Court based upon a conflict between the instant decision and White v. State, 274 So. 2d 6 (4th DCA Fla. 1973); Rumph v. State, 248 So. 2d 526 (3rd DCA Fla. 1971); Adams v. State, 242 So. 2d 723 (1st DCA Fla. 1971); Todd v. State, 187 So. 2d 908 (3rd DCA Fla. 1966); and Channell v. State, 107 So. 2d 284 (2nd DCA Fla. 1958). Florida Constitution, Article V, Section 3 (b)(3), F.S.A. We issued the writ and dispensed with oral argument pursuant to Florida Appellate Rule 3.10(e), 32 F.S.A. After receiving briefs on the merits from the parties and carefully examining the record of the case, we are of the opinion that there is conflict sufficient to invoke our certiorari jurisdiction and that the District Court must be reversed in part.
The facts of this case are recited in the District Court opinion:
The District Court has properly recognized the correct rules of law as stated in the cases cited for conflict. The court, however, improperly applied those rules of law to the facts of this case. It is this misapplication of the law which vests our certiorari jurisdiction. Spivey v. Battaglia, 258 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1972); McBurnette v. Playground Equipment Corporation, 137 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 1962); Pinkerton-Hays Lumber Co. v. Pope, 127 So. 2d 441 (Fla. 1961).
In all five of the cases cited for conflict, convictions for breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny were reversed and judgments were directed to be entered for convictions of breaking and entering with intent to commit petit larceny. In all five cases, the reason for the reduction was that there was no evidence of any circumstances, other than the value of property actually taken, to prove that the defendants actually intended to take property of sufficient value as to constitute grand larceny.
In Channell v. State, supra, the defendant actually took nothing; but he was seen leaving the dwelling house involved and there was testimony that there was property in the house and that a maid had heard a noise like a closet door and dresser drawers being opened and closed. The District Court of Appeal, Second District, held that:
The Court held, however, that the evidence was insufficient to establish that the value of the property intended to be taken exceeded the amount necessary to constitute grand larceny.
In the instant case there were also circumstances proven which indicated that petitioner intended, when he entered the house, to take property of some value. As in the cases cited for conflict, however, none of those circumstances would support a reasonable inference that petitioner, when he entered the house, intended to take more than what he actually did take. The District Court opinion detailed all of the circumstances proven at trial relevant to petitioner's intent; the record shows nothing further. Therefore, the facts of this case do not support the District Court's conclusion that the evidence, under the applicable rules of law, was sufficient to support petitioner's conviction for breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny.
The District Court is reversed to that extent, and this cause is remanded with directions to enter a judgment of conviction for breaking and entering with intent to commit petit larceny and to re-sentence petitioner accordingly.
It is so ordered.
ROBERTS, ERVIN, ADKINS, and BOYD, JJ., concur.