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Johnson v. State4/8/2003
Appellant was charged and convicted for failure to register as a "sexual offender." See § 943.0435(9), Fla. Stat. (2001)(stating that a "sexual offender" who does not comply with registration requirements commits a third degree felony). Appellant argues that the trial court erred by informing the jury that he was a "sexual offender" and denying his proposed "sanitized" jury instructions, citing Brown v. State, 719 So. 2d 882 (Fla. 1998). We affirm because we agree with the State that the trial court 's jury instructions were consistent with the rulings in Brown.
I.
Section 943.0435 requires that a "sexual offender" register at an office of the Department of Law Enforcement or the sheriff's office. Appellant submitted a proposed jury instruction that would "sanitize" the reference to appellant as a "sexual offender" by referring to him instead as a "felony offender." The proposed jury instruction stated:
FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A FELONY OFFENDER
Before you find Eddie T. Johnson guilty of Failure to Register as a Felony Offender, the State must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
The Court instructs you that Eddie T. Johnson has agreed that he has been convicted as a felony offender and must register his address with the Department of Law Enforcement or the Sheriff's Office pursuant to Section 943.0435(9), Florida Statutes.
1. Eddie T. Johnson has been convicted as such a Felony Offender.
2. Eddie T. Johnson knowingly failed to report in person at the Department of Law Enforcement or the Sheriff's Office in the county in which he establishes or maintains a permanent or temporary residence, within 48 hours after establishing permanent or temporary residence, within 48 hours after being released from the custody, control, of the Department of Corrections or from the custody of a private correctional facility. . . . (Emphasis added).
The trial court denied the requested instruction, holding that the requested instruction would remove an element of the offense from the jury's consideration. The trial court gave the following instruction, as it relates to the issue in this case:
Members of the jury, I thank you for your attention during this trial. Please pay attention to the instructions I'm about to give you. Eddie T. Johnson, the defendant in this case, has been accused of the crime of failure to register as a sexual offender. Before you can find the defendant guilty of failure to register as a sexual offender, the State must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court instructs you that Eddie T. Johnson has agreed or stipulated that he has been convicted as a sexual offender. The elements are these. One, Eddie T. Johnson has been convicted as a sexual offender. Two, Eddie T. Johnson knowingly and failed to report in person at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement or at the sheriff's office in the county in which the defendant establishes or maintains a permanent or temporary residence within 48 hours after establishing a permanent or temporary residence in this state or within 48 hours after being released from the custody, control or supervision of the Department of Corrections or from the custody of a private correctional facility. . . .
II.
In Brown, the Florida Supreme Court addressed the analogous crime of a felon-in-possession of a firearm and held that "when a criminal defendant offers to stipulate to the convicted felon element of the felon-in-possession of a firearm charge, the Court must accept that stipulation, conditioned by an on-the record colloquy with the defendant acknowledging the underlying prior felony
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