Mobley v. State

132 So. 3d 1160, 2014 WL 20660, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 15
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 2, 2014
DocketNo. 3D13-1566
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 132 So. 3d 1160 (Mobley 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
Mobley v. State, 132 So. 3d 1160, 2014 WL 20660, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 15 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

WELLS, Judge.

We have jurisdiction to review the instant petition for writ of prohibition seeking to preclude the court below from proceeding further in adjudicating criminal charges against petitioner, Gabriel Mobley, on the grounds that Mobley is immune from prosecution under the provisions of Chapter 776 of the Florida Statutes (Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law). See Mederos v. State, 102 So.3d 7, 11 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (“A writ of prohibition is the proper vehicle for challenging a trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss a charge on the ground of immunity from prosecution pursuant to the Stand Your Ground Law.”); see also Little v. State, 111 So.3d 214, 216 n. 1 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) (“We believe that the better avenue for review [of orders denying motions to dismiss asserting immunity under the Stand Your Ground Law] is a petition for writ of prohibition, which the supreme court has consistently held is an appropriate vehicle to review orders denying motions to dismiss in criminal prosecutions based on immunity.”).

The standard of review applicable to this case is the same as that which is applied to the denial of a motion to suppress. See Mederos, 102 So.3d at 11 (stating that “a review of a trial court’s order on a motion claiming immunity under the [Stand Your Ground] statute is governed by the same standard which applies in an appeal from an order denying a motion to suppress”); State v. Vino, 100 So.3d 716 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (citing Mederos for the [1162]*1162applicable standard of review). Under this standard, the trial court’s findings of fact are “presumed correct and can be reversed only if they are not supported by competent substantial evidence,” while the trial court’s legal conclusions are reviewed de novo. Vino, 100 So.3d at 719. For the reasons that follow, we grant the petition but withhold issuance of our writ confident that the court below will comply with this court’s order.

Facts

Gabriel Mobley, the petitioner here, was charged with two counts of second degree murder following a shooting which took place outside a local Chili’s restaurant on February 27, 2008. The day of the fatal shooting, Mobley finished work around 3:00 pm at his pressure cleaning business, and after going home to shower and change, went to work at the tax preparation office of high school friend, Jose (Chi-co) Correa.1 After working several hours at Chico’s business, Mobley was invited by Chico to join him and his staff at a local Chili’s to unwind. Mobley agreed to join them but drove his own car intending to go home from the restaurant. When Mobley arrived at the restaurant, he removed the handgun that he was carrying and stowed the gun in the glove compartment of his car.2 He did so because he believed from the training that he had received to secure a concealed carry license that firearms could not be brought into any establishment where food and alcohol are served.3 By the time Mobley got to the restaurant, a number of Chico’s female employees had arrived and were sitting at a booth located near one end of the restaurant’s bar. Because the booth was crowded, Mobley, Chi-co, and another of Chico’s employees (another man) sat at the bar nearest the booth.

Sometime after food and drinks were ordered, Mobley and Chico went outside to smoke. They returned to the bar where they ate, drank and conversed without incident. However, things changed after Mobley and Chico went outside a second time for a smoke. This time when they reentered the restaurant, they found two men, later identified as Jason Gonzalez and Rolando (Roly) Carrazana, talking to Chico’s female employees. According to Chico, the women seemed to be uncomfortable so he told the men to leave. This sparked a verbal altercation between Chico and the two men which continued until the two men returned to their table at the other end of the bar. The altercation, which lasted only a few minutes, was loud enough to attract the attention of the restaurant’s security guard and its manager, who asked the guard to keep an eye on Jason and Roly.

Mobley was not involved in the argument but acted as peacemaker instead, going to Jason’s and Roly’s table to ask them to forget what he described as a petty misunderstanding. He even shook Jason’s hand and gave him a friendly pat on the back. Mobley also spoke to a third person seated at the bar who appeared to be with Jason and Roly about forgetting [1163]*1163this petty disagreement.4

Although the altercation appeared to have ended, Mobley testified that he began to feel uncomfortable after he noticed Roly staring in the direction of Chico’s party with a “mean, cold [look] on his face.”5 He decided it was time to leave. But before he left, he and Chico went to the restroom where he expressed his concerns to his friend. As Mobley and Chico were returning from the bathroom, they passed the front of the restaurant where Mobley saw Jason, with Roly nearby, banging aggressively on the restaurant’s window and pointing toward them.6 When Mobley and Chico reached their seats, Mobley suggested that after Jason and Roly left, they should all go home. Approximately ten to fifteen minutes later, after Jason and Roly appeared to have left, Mobley left the restaurant alone while Chico settled the check.

The events that transpired next were captured on a security camera recording made outside the restaurant, and, for the most part, are beyond dispute. The recording shows that at 23:52:15, Mobley, wearing only a sleeveless tee shirt, exited the Chili’s front door and went to his vehicle parked only feet away, but mostly outside the security camera’s viewing range. There, Mobley, as subsequent footage confirms, donned a sweat shirt, because, according to Mobley, it was chilly that night.7 He also retrieved his gun and put it in a holster that he wore around his waist. Less than a minute after Mobley left the restaurant, Chico and the third man in their party exited the front door. Chico was joined by Mobley who walked with Chico to his nearby car.8 There the two remained for approximately thirty seconds until, at 23:53:38, Mobley stepped onto the sidewalk near the front fender of Chico’s car. Approximately twenty seconds later, Chico joined him on the sidewalk where the two smoked a cigarette.

Four seconds after Chico joined Mobley on the sidewalk, Jason Gonzalez can be seen rapidly approaching from Mobley’s and Chico’s right. Four seconds after that, Jason delivered a vicious punch to Chico’s face which fractured Chico’s eye socket. Jason then can be seen to dance backward, hands raised in a fighter’s pose, and within four seconds of landing the punch on Chico advance forward toward Mobley. Mobley reacted by raising his arm and hand to ward Jason off. Two seconds later, as Jason steps back from Mobley, Roly can be seen rushing up from the rear of the restaurant to join Jason in what Mobley testified he believed to be a renewed attack on both himself and Chico. At this juncture, as Roly neared Jason, who was only feet from both Mobley and Chico, Mobley testified that he saw Roly reach under his long, baggy shirt. Believing that Roly was reaching for a weapon to [1164]*1164use in an attack, Mobley drew his gun and shot at Roly hitting both Roly and Jason.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
132 So. 3d 1160, 2014 WL 20660, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mobley-v-state-fladistctapp-2014.