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CASES

By Jeffrey Ivashuk

Criminal law -- Aggravated stalking -- False report of bomb -- Aggravated stalking conviction can be predicated on both non-criminal and criminal behavior -- No merit to defendant's argument that aggravated stalking conviction could not be predicated upon conduct made criminal by other statutes    Reported at 33 Fla. L. Weekly D1949c Criminal law -- Felony hazing -- Statute criminalizing hazing as a rite of initiation into student organizations at Florida's colleges and universities and making it a felony to participate in hazing activities that result in ?serious bodily injury? is not unconstitutional -- Statute is not unconstitutionally vague for failing to specify what constitutes ?serious bodily injury? in light of facts in this case, which established that defendant participated in two-day caning ritual during which victim sustained 150 cane strikes to his buttocks, causing injuries which required surgery and which required victim to sit on pillow to mitigate pain of sitting down at time of trial some ten months later -- Person of ordinary intelligence would reasonably expect to incur criminal sanctions under hazing statute for inflicting or assisting in inflicting such injuries -- Competent substantial evidence established that victim sustained injury that jurors could have concluded was serious -- Jurinstructions -- Instruction defining ?serious bodily injury? impermissibly narrowed the range of findings jurors could have made in order to acquit by referring only to serious and slight injury, but not to moderate injury, an instruction which could have allowed jurors to convict if they found that victim's injuries were anything more than slight -- Extant case law suggestions that once judge decided to instruct on distinction between various degrees of ?serious? and the remaining degree of ?slight,? judge should also have instructed on difference between ?serious? and ?moderate? -- New trial required     Reported at 33 Fla...continue to full post

Full post as published by JAABlog on August 09, 2008 (boomark / email).