02-2756 STATE V. VELASQUEZ

State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 02-2756 STATE V. VELASQUEZ

Case Date: 06/30/2004

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA THIRD DISTRICT JULY TERM A.D., 2004 ** ** Appellant, vs. JORGE VELASQUEZ Appellee. ** Opinion filed August 11, 2004. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Dennis Murphy, Judge. Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General and Marni A. Bryson and Lucretia A. Pitts, Assistant Attorney Generals, for appellant. Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender and Carlos Gonzalez and Robert Kalter, Assistant Public Defenders, for appellee. Before COPE, GERSTEN, and GREEN, JJ. ON MOTION FOR REHEARING GRANTED PER CURIAM. ** ** ** LOWER TRIBUNAL NO. 02-13294 CASE NO. 3D02-2756

THE STATE OF FLORIDA

The State appeals the trial court's order reducing a charge of trafficking We in cannabis In to his a charge motion of for possession rehearing, of the

cannabis.

reverse.

appellee, Jorge Velasquez, raises, for the first time, the sole issue of whether an appellate court has jurisdiction to review a trial court's order reducing a criminal charge. Richars, 792 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). we do have jurisdiction in such cases. So. 2d 674 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). We See State v.

We have ruled that

State v. Exposito, 854 therefore grant the

appellee's motion for rehearing, withdraw our previous opinion of June 30, 2004, and issue this opinion in its stead. In so

doing, we certify conflict with the Fourth District's opinion in Richars. Jorge Velasquez was charged with one count of trafficking in cannabis after officers recovered 55 cannabis plants,

weighing 30 pounds total.

Velasquez moved to dismiss, arguing The

that 300 plants are needed to sustain a trafficking charge.

trial court granted Velasquez's motion and Velasquez pled guilty to a possession count. The applicable statute provides, in pertinent part: Any person who knowingly sells, purchases, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, in excess of 25 pounds of cannabis, or 300 or more cannabis plants, commits a felony of the first degree, which felony shall be known as "trafficking in cannabis[.]"

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