Summary
finding that contracts between defendant convicted of grand theft and alleged victims constituted evidence of defendant's good faith belief in his entitlement to the property
Summary of this case from Cliff Berry, Inc. v. StateOpinion
No. 93-2985.
November 9, 1994.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Broward County, Robert W. Tyson, Jr., J.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Joseph R. Chloupek, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Melynda L. Melear, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.
William Verdult appeals from a final judgment convicting him of two counts of grand theft. We reverse on the basis that the trial court should have given Verdult's requested jury instruction on his "good faith defense," as the contracts he signed with the alleged victims, Ohannes Melkonian and Michelle West, constitute evidence of his good faith belief that he was entitled to the property in question. See Williams v. State, 395 So.2d 1236, 1238 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981) (a defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed on the law applicable to his theory of defense if there is any evidence to support it, no matter how disdainfully the judge may feel about the merits of such defense); Solomon v. State, 436 So.2d 1041 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) (defendant entitled to jury instruction on defense if evidence exists no matter how weak or improbable). Because we find merit in Verdult's argument that the trial court reversibly erred by not giving the requested "good faith defense" jury instruction, we do not need to address Verdult's other point on appeal.
REVERSED.
WARNER, POLEN and FARMER, JJ., concur.