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Langbaum v. State11/14/2001
s been revoked based upon proof of charges other than those with which he was notified in the affidavit of violation." 358 So. 2d at 185-86.
In today's case the record refutes the argument that probation was revoked on the basis of proof of charges different from the one for which defendant was notified in the VOP charging document.
Hines makes clear that mere deficiencies in the VOP charge are not per se reversible error, so long as the VOP charge gives the probationer fair notice as to the actual criminal act sought to be used as the basis for the revocation. In Maselli v. State, 446 So. 2d 1079, 1080-81 (Fla. 1984), the court held that a conviction, even one based upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, is a lawful basis for revocation of probation. In the present case, even though the VOP charge alleged merely an arrest, it specified the precise offense for which the probationer had been arrested.
Defendant expressed no doubt at the VOP hearing as to what he was accused of doing to warrant revocation of his probation. While the VOP charging document might be deemed technically deficient in failing to state that he drove an automobile on the public highways of Florida while under the influence of alcohol or drugs in violation of law, it did state that he was arrested for that offense. As we have already said, this is not a case in which defendant was charged with being arrested for one offense while his probation was revoked for another offense not mentioned in the VOP charge. The VOP charge was supported by testimony that he was in fact convicted of precisely the offense stated in the VOP charge as the basis for the arrest. Any error in the charging document was indubitably harmless.
We therefore recede from Palmer and affirm defendant's revocation of probation.
POLEN, C.J., DELL, GUNTHER, STONE, WARNER, KLEIN, STEVENSON, SHAHOOD, GROSS, TAYLOR and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
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