Battle v. State

911 So. 2d 85, 2005 WL 2095673
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedSeptember 1, 2005
DocketSC03-443
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 911 So. 2d 85 (Battle v. State) 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
Battle v. State, 911 So. 2d 85, 2005 WL 2095673 (Fla. 2005).

Opinion

911 So.2d 85 (2005)

Robert L. BATTLE, Jr., Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC03-443.

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 1, 2005.

*86 James Marion Moorman, Public Defender and Allyn M. Giambalvo, Assistant Public Defender, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Bartow, FL, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Robert J. Krauss, Bureau Chief-Assistant Attorney General, and Katherine Coombs Cline, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review the decision in Battle v. State, 837 So.2d 1063 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), which certified conflict with the decision in Thompson v. State, 814 So.2d 1103 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002), on the issue of whether the failure to instruct the jury on an essential element of attempted felony murder constitutes fundamental error when the element in question is not in dispute. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons set forth below, we approve the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in Battle, which found no fundamental error, and disapprove the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Thompson to the extent that it conflicts with this opinion.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

In January 2000, David Golly attempted to buy drugs in an alley in south St. Petersburg. As Golly sat in his pickup truck, Robert L. Battle, Jr., approached the truck. Battle told Golly that he would be back in a second and stepped away from the truck. When Battle returned a few minutes later, he pointed a gun at Golly and demanded money. Golly responded by stepping on the gas pedal of his truck. Battle then fired the gun and struck Golly in the head. Golly and two other witnesses identified Battle as the perpetrator from a photo array.

Battle was initially charged by information with one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of attempted robbery. The information was later amended to include one count of attempted felony murder with a firearm pursuant to section 782.051(1), Florida Statutes (1999).

In his defense, Battle claimed that Golly intentionally misidentified him in an attempt to extort money from him and that the other witnesses misidentified him in order to shield the person who actually confronted Golly in his truck. Battle suggested that the actual perpetrator was an individual named Tim Watson.

In instructing the jury, the trial court gave the following instruction on attempted felony murder:

*87 The third crime for which Mr. Battle is charged is attempted felony murder with a firearm.
In order to find the Defendant attempted to commit the crime of attempted felony murder, the State must prove two elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
The first is that the Defendant attempted to perpetrate the crime of robbery, as I have previously explained that crime to you.
And the second element is that during the course thereof, the Defendant committed an intentional action that could have but did not cause the death of David Golly.

Battle did not object to this instruction in the trial court. However, on appeal he argued that the instruction constituted fundamental error because it failed to instruct the jury on the essential element in section 782.051(1), which requires the jury to find that Battle had committed an intentional act "that is not an essential element of the felony." The Second District recognized that the phrase "that is not an essential element of the felony" constitutes a necessary element of attempted felony murder under the statute. Battle, 837 So.2d at 1065. The district court also recognized that failure to instruct the jury on this necessary element is fundamental error if the error pertains to an element of the crime that is a disputed issue in the case. Id. The district court noted that this Court's opinion in State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643 (Fla.1991), cited Morton v. State, 459 So.2d 322 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984), as an example of an issue that was not disputed.

In Morton, the trial court failed to instruct on the necessary elements of robbery, but the district court noted that the facts of the robberies were conceded and mistaken identity was the only issue. Therefore, the Third District concluded that the failure to instruct the jury on the necessary elements of robbery was not fundamental error. Morton, 459 So.2d at 324.

In the instant case, Battle did not dispute that the crime had occurred, but rather, claimed that he was mistakenly identified as the perpetrator. The Second District noted that "[i]t was undisputed that Golly was shot in the head, an act that was not an essential element of the attempted robbery." Battle, 837 So.2d at 1065. Citing this Court's opinion in Delva, the district court determined that the failure to instruct on a necessary element of attempted felony murder was not fundamental error in Battle's case because the facts of the offense were undisputed and Battle's defense was mistaken identity. Therefore, the district court affirmed Battle's conviction and sentence for attempted felony murder. Id. However, the Second District noted that under parallel facts, the Fourth District had held that the same omitted element in an attempted felony murder instruction was fundamental error when the defense was mistaken identity. Thus, the Second District certified conflict with the Fourth District's decision in Thompson. Id.[1]

ANALYSIS

Before we address the conflict between Battle and Thompson, it is helpful to recount the history of the statutory crime of *88 attempted felony murder. The statutory offense was created by the Legislature in response to this Court's decision in State v. Gray, 654 So.2d 552 (Fla.1995). In Gray, this Court abolished the common law crime of attempted felony murder because the "legal fictions required to support the intent for felony murder [were] simply too great" to extend to attempted felony murder. 654 So.2d at 554. In the wake of Gray, the standard jury instructions for attempted felony murder were deleted. See Standard Jury Instr. in Crim. Cases (95-2), 665 So.2d 212, 213 (Fla.1995).

In 1996, the Legislature responded by enacting section 782.051, which created the offense of "Felony causing bodily injury." See ch. 96-359, § 1, at 2052, Laws of Fla. In 1998, the Legislature substantially rewrote this section and retitled it "Attempted felony murder." See ch. 98-204, § 12, at 1970, Laws of Fla. The 1998 amendment also added the element of an intentional act that is not an essential element of the underlying felony. As amended by the Legislature, section 782.051(1) provides:

Any person who perpetrates or attempts to perpetrate any felony enumerated in s. 782.04(3) and who commits, aids, or abets an intentional act that is not an essential element of the felony and that could, but does not, cause the death of another commits a felony of the first degree....

(Emphasis added.)

The defendants in Battle and Thompson claimed that the failure of their respective trial courts to include the statutory language "that is not an essential element of the felony" in instructions to the jury rendered the instructions fundamentally flawed.

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Bluebook (online)
911 So. 2d 85, 2005 WL 2095673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/battle-v-state-fla-2005.