20.22 UNLAWFUL FILING OF FALSE [DOCUMENTS] [RECORDS] AGAINST [REAL] [PERSONAL] PROPERTY

To prove the crime of Unlawful Filing of False [Documents] [Records] Against [Real] [Personal] Property, the State must prove the following three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. (Defendant) [filed] [or] [directed a filer to file] an instrument.

2. At the time, (defendant) had the intent to defraud or harass another.

3. The instrument contained a materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation that purported to affect an owner’s interest in the property described in the instrument.

Enhancements. Give if applicable.

§ 817.535(3), Fla. Stat.

If you find (defendant) guilty of Unlawful Filing of False [Documents] [Records] Against [Real] [Personal] Property, you must also determine if the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the owner of the property subject to the false instrument was a public officer or employee.

§ 817.535(4), Fla. Stat.

If you find (defendant) guilty of Unlawful Filing of False [Documents] [Records] Against [Real] [Personal] Property, you must also determine if the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that (defendant) committed the crime while [incarcerated in a jail or correctional institution] [participating in a pretrial diversion program under any form of pretrial release or bond] [on probation or parole] [under any postrelease supervision].

§ 817.535(5), Fla. Stat.

If you find (defendant) guilty of Unlawful Filing of False [Documents] [Records] Against [Real] [Personal] Property, you must also determine if the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the owner of the property covered by the false instrument incurred financial loss as a result of the instrument being recorded in the official record. Financial loss includes costs and attorney fees incurred in correcting, sealing, or removing the false instrument from the official record.

§ 817.535(2)(b), Fla. Stat.; State v. Harbaugh, 754 So. 2d 691 (Fla. 2000).

Give in the second part of a bifurcated proceeding if the defendant is charged with having a prior violation of § 817.535(2)(a), Fla. Stat.

Now that you have found (defendant) guilty of Unlawful Filing of False [Documents] [Records] Against [Real] [Personal] Property, you must determine whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [he] [she] has committed the offense of Unlawful Filing of False [Documents] [Records] Against [Real] [Personal Property] a second or subsequent time.