Flowers v. State

I concur in the affirmance of the judgment of guilt. However, the punishment for a first offense under Section 811.16 is reducible under Section 811.17 if the “act of stealing the property is not by law a felony” and the accused has made satisfaction to the party from whom the goods are stolen. In my opinion the majority err in treating the breaking and entering as the “act of' stealing” for at least the two sound reasons of prior precedent and the rule of lenity in construction of penal statutes.

No case precisely in point has been ruled upon, but the Supreme Court has said in Vaughn v.…