493 So. 2d 550 - Coyle v. State

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently August 2010

7 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

¶1 *551 Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Jeffrey L. Anderson, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

¶2Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Sarah B. Mayer, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

¶3GUNTHER, Judge.

¶4Robert M. Coyle appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence and contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal. We reverse.

¶5Appellant was convicted of theft of Harold Houser's vehicle pursuant to section 812.014(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1983). Appellant moved for judgment of acquittal on the ground that the prosecutor failed to prove that the vehicle found in appellant's possession was the car that was taken from Houser. The judgment of acquittal should have been granted because the record reveals that there was insufficient evidence that the vehicle in Coyle's possession was the same as the vehicle taken from Houser. There is a missing link because there is no evidence to connect the car the police returned to Houser and the car found in Coyle's possession. See Morgan v. State, 186 So.2d 795 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966).

¶6The Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution compels us to remand this case with instructions to the trial court to discharge the appellant because the State failed to present sufficient evidence at trial that the vehicle in Coyle's possession was the vehicle taken from Houser. See Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 15 (1978); Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19, 98 S.Ct. 2151, 57 L.Ed.2d 15 (1978); Kimbler v. State, 360 So.2d 1270 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).

¶7REVERSED AND REMANDED.

¶8DELL and WALDEN, JJ., concur.