Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
On May 26, 2011, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the Florida Third District Court of Appeals and the trial court for a forcible felony kidnapping conviction. In this Florida kidnapping case, Delgado stood trial for burglary of an occupied conveyance, grand theft of an automobile, and kidnapping. After the jury convicted him of all three crimes, “he received a thirty-year sentence for the burglary of an occupied conveyance, a ten-year sentence for the auto theft, and a life sentence for the kidnapping.” Delgado v. Florida, 36 Fla. L. Weekly S220c (2011).
In this case, Delgado was accused of stealing a vehicle in which a two-year-old child was asleep in the backseat. Because the child was in the back seat of the vehicle, he was convicted of the burglary to an occupied conveyance (a motor vehicle is a conveyance and the child occupied it). The issue in this Florida kidnapping case is whether the evidence supported a conviction for kidnapping which resulted in a life sentence. Since the State Attorney did not “produce sufficient evidence demonstrating Delgado’s awareness of the victim before or during his execution of the underlying felony, critical statutory requirements for the kidnapping offense were not satisfied.” Therefore, his conviction was unsupported and could not stand.
If you are accused of kidnapping in St. Johns, Clay, or Duval County Florida, contact a Jacksonville Kidnapping Lawyer to discuss your criminal case.