Andujar-Ruiz v. State

205 So. 3d 803, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 17021
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 16, 2016
Docket2D15-5304
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 205 So. 3d 803 (Andujar-Ruiz v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Andujar-Ruiz v. State, 205 So. 3d 803, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 17021 (Fla. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

KHOUZAM, Judge.

Angel Andujar-Ruiz has filed a petition under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(d), arguing that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that the trial court’s instruction on Andujar-Ruiz’s duty to retreat constituted fundamental error. We grant the petition.

A jury convicted Andujar-Ruiz of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery, and shooting into a vehicle. This court affirmed his judgment and sentences. Andujar-Ruiz v. State, 192 So.3d 49 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015) (table decision).

Andujar-Ruiz was at a gas station when the victim (his cousin), the victim’s girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s son arrived together in another vehicle. There was preexisting familial discord between Andu-jar-Ruiz and the victim. As the victim’s vehicle left the station, Andujar-Ruiz followed it. When the cars were stopped at a red light, according to the victim and his girlfriend, Andujar-Ruiz stared at them. The victim became angry, exited his vehicle, and told Andujar-Ruiz to get out of his car and fight like a man. The victim admitted to holding a hammer near Andujar-Ruiz’s head and threatening to split his skull during this exchange. The victim also testified that Andujar-Ruiz “threw” his car towards him. The victim then hit Andujar-Ruiz’s car with the hammer. Dents in the car hood were observed by other witnesses. The two vehicles left the scene.

According to the victim’s girlfriend, approximately ten to twenty minutes later, she observed Andujar-Ruiz’s vehicle following them and weaving through traffic to get close. When they stopped at a red light, she called 911 to report that Andu-jar-Ruiz was following them. While she was on the phone, Andujar-Ruiz abruptly fired four shots into the passenger side of their vehicle, hitting the victim in the hip and the leg.

[805]*805Andujar-Ruiz painted a different version of events. According to Andujar-Ruiz, less than a minute and a half after he fled the scene where the victim threatened him, the victim’s vehicle approached him at a stoplight. A verbal altercation ensued, and Andujar-Ruiz threatened to call the police. The victim exited his vehicle briefly but returned to get something out of it. Andujar-Ruiz saw something in the victim’s hand. He testified that he was not sure exactly what it was but that he thought it was the hammer the victim had previously threatened him with. Andujar-Ruiz fired his gun four times into the passenger door of the victim’s vehicle. He stated that he did not want the victim to get out of his car and that the victim could have had anything in his hand. ■

When Andujar-Ruiz testified, the following transpired on cross-examination:

Q. You are a convicted felon?
A. Yes.
Q. You are not supposed to have a gun period, right?
A. I guess if that’s the law. I am not an expert on the law. I don’t know.

The State also elicited testimony that An-dujar-Ruiz was previously convicted of felon in possession of a firearm in an unrelated matter.

The written jury instructions provided, in pertinent part, as follows:1

If the defendant was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was attacked in any place where he had a right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he reasonably believed that it was necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or to prevent the commission of an Aggravated [ajssault.
If you find that the defendant who because of threats or prior difficulties with [the victim] had reasonable grounds to believe that he was In danger of death or great bodily harm at the hands of [the victim], then the defendant had the right to arm himself. However, the defendant cannot justify the use of deadly force if, after arming himself he renewed his difficulty with [the victim] when he could have avoided the difficulty, although as previously explained if the defendant was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was attacked in any place where he had the right to be, he had no duty to retreat.

So instructed, the jury convicted .Andu-jar-Ruiz of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery, and shooting into a vehicle. On appeal, counsel did not challenge the jury instructions with regard to Andujar-Ruiz’s duty to retreat.

In his petition, Andujar-Ruiz argues appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that fundamental error occurred when the trial court instructed the jury that Andujar-Ruiz had a duty to retreat if he was engaged in unlawful activity. He argues that the instructions given were inconsistent with Florida’s Stand Your Ground law,2 citing Little v. State, 111 So.3d 214 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013), in which this court held that a defendant engaged in unlawful activity is not precluded from seeking immunity under section 776.012, Florida Statutes (2011),3 even though the same unlawful activity would prevent him [806]*806or her from obtaining the immunity under section 776.013. We agree.

In Little, the defendant was ambushed by an attacker wielding two handguns who threatened to “make it rain,” which the defendant understood as a threat to shoot him. Ill So.3d at 216. The defendant fled into a house and withdrew his firearm. Upon seeing the firearm in the defendant’s possession, the resident of the home asked the defendant to leave. Id. at 217. Eventually, the defendant was forced from the home. Upon exiting the home, he attempted to back away from his attacker, hiding his gun behind his back. The attacker raised his firearms at the defendant. The defendant drew his firearm, closed his eyes, and fired several times, killing his attacker. The defendant was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm.

The defendant in Little filed a motion to dismiss arguing that he was entitled to immunity under the Stand Your Ground law as provided for in sections 776.032 and 776.012(1). Section 776.032(1) provides that persons using force as permitted under sections 776.012, 776.013, or 776.031 are “justified in using such force and [are] immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force.”

The State responded, arguing in part that the defendant was not entitled to immunity because he was engaged in unlawful activity, citing section 776.013(3). That section provides:

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

(Emphasis added.)

Although section 776.013(3) requires that a defendant not be engaged in unlawful activity, as we explained in Little, a defendant’s felonious possession of a firearm does not preclude such a defendant from raising a defense under section 776.012(1), which provides:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
205 So. 3d 803, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 17021, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/andujar-ruiz-v-state-fladistctapp-2016.