Potts v. State
Florida Supreme Court
430 So. 2d 900 (1982)

- Written by Sara Rhee, JD
Facts
Russell Potts (defendant) and Lawrence Scott Ramirez were involved in the burglary of a car dealership. Ramirez himself conducted the burglary, during which he guided an employee by hand to a restroom and told him to wait there. Potts’s involvement was limited to driving Ramirez to the dealership, waiting nearby, and driving Ramirez away. Potts and Ramirez were both charged with burglary with assault but were tried separately. Ramirez was convicted of simple burglary and sentenced to a maximum sentence of five years. Potts was convicted of burglary with assault and sentenced to thirty years. On appeal, Potts argued that he could not be convicted of a greater crime than was Ramirez. The Second District Court of Appeal disagreed but set aside the judgment and sentence on other grounds and remanded for a new trial. Potts sought review.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ehrlich, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.