Adam Lloyd Shepard v. State of Florida

259 So. 3d 701
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedNovember 1, 2018
DocketSC17-1952
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 259 So. 3d 701 (Adam Lloyd Shepard v. State of Florida) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adam Lloyd Shepard v. State of Florida, 259 So. 3d 701 (Fla. 2018).

Opinions

LABARGA, J.

This case is before the Court for review of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in Shepard v. State , 227 So.3d 746 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017), which certified conflict with the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in Gonzalez v. State , 197 So.3d 84 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016), on the issue of whether an automobile can be considered a "weapon" for purposes of enhancing a defendant's sentence to a higher degree under Florida's reclassification statute, section 775.087(1), Florida Statutes (2011). The First District's decision also expressly and directly conflicts with this Court's decision in State v. Houck , 652 So.2d 359 (Fla. 1995). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3)-(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we approve the conclusion of the First District that an automobile can be a weapon for purposes of the reclassification statute and disapprove of Gonzalez to the extent it holds otherwise.1

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Adam Lloyd Shepard was convicted of (1) manslaughter with a weapon, where the weapon supporting the charge was an automobile, and (2) leaving the scene of a crash involving death. Shepard , 227 So.3d at 747. The district court described the relevant facts:

On January 22, 2011, Appellant was drinking and watching a basketball game at a bar with the victim. Appellant and the victim got into a tussle at the bar, after which Appellant was escorted out of the bar by staff. The victim, who was still at the bar, began receiving phone calls from Appellant and ultimately the victim answered one phone call before leaving the bar.
A witness at trial, who had been at the bar that evening and had been invited by the victim to his apartment to meet his girlfriend, testified that she saw a white vehicle (later confirmed to be Appellant's) parked in the rear of a shopping center across the street from the entrance of the victim's apartment complex. The witness said that the white car flashed its lights. The victim pulled into the parking lot, exited his car, and rushed toward the white automobile while pulling off his jacket. The white automobile advanced towards the victim and struck him. Appellant left the parking lot and was apprehended two weeks later in Chicago. The victim sustained head injuries and ultimately succumbed to those injuries the following day.
*704A jury found Appellant guilty of one count of manslaughter with a weapon and one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving a death.... Appellant was sentenced to thirty years on the manslaughter count and fifteen years on the leaving the scene of a crash count.

Id. at 747-48.

On appeal, Shepard argued that the trial court improperly allowed his manslaughter conviction to be reclassified from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony pursuant to section 775.087(1) for using a weapon, where the "weapon" was an automobile. The district court disagreed and held that "an automobile, when used in the manner [Shepard] used it, constitutes a weapon in the common and ordinary meaning of the word." Id. at 748. The district court relied in part upon the definition of "weapon" adopted by this Court in Houck : "[1.] [a]n instrument of attack or defense in combat, as a gun or sword ... [or] [2.] [a] means used to defend against or defeat another." Id. (quoting Houck , 652 So.2d at 360 ) (some alterations in original). The district court concluded "an automobile falls within the second definition of a weapon as a 'means used to defend against or defeat another.' " Id. The district court certified conflict with the decision of the Second District in Gonzalez , which held an automobile may not be considered a weapon under section 775.087(1), because it is not commonly understood to be an instrument for combat. Id.

This review follows.

ANALYSIS

Standard of Review

The question before the Court is whether an automobile may be considered a "weapon" under section 775.087(1), Florida Statutes (2011), which reclassifies a felony to a higher degree when the defendant "carries, displays, uses, threatens to use, or attempts to use any weapon or firearm" during the commission of the felony. The standard of review is de novo. See Williams v. State , 186 So.3d 989, 991 (Fla. 2016) ("Judicial interpretations of statutes are pure questions of law subject to de novo review." (quoting Johnson v. State , 78 So.3d 1305, 1310 (Fla. 2012) ) ). Where the plain language of a statute is unambiguous and conveys a clear meaning, the statute must be given its obvious meaning. Id. Further, when construing a statute, our "task is to ascertain the meaning of the phrases and words used in a provision, not to substitute [the Court's] judgment for that of the Legislature." Sch. Bd. of Palm Beach Cty. v. Survivors Charter Sch., Inc. , 3 So.3d 1220, 1228 (Fla. 2009).

Defining "Weapon"

Florida's reclassification statute provides:

Unless otherwise provided by law, whenever a person is charged with a felony, except a felony in which the use of a weapon or firearm is an essential element, and during the commission of such felony the defendant carries, displays, uses, threatens to use, or attempts to use any weapon or firearm, or during the commission of such felony the defendant commits an aggravated battery, the felony for which the person is charged shall be reclassified as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
259 So. 3d 701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adam-lloyd-shepard-v-state-of-florida-fla-2018.