Spurgeon v. State

114 So. 3d 1042, 2013 WL 2359485, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8593
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 31, 2013
DocketNo. 5D12-796
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 114 So. 3d 1042 (Spurgeon 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
Spurgeon v. State, 114 So. 3d 1042, 2013 WL 2359485, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8593 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

BERGER, J.

Jay William Spurgeon appeals his conviction for battery on an emergency medical care provider.1 He raises five issues on appeal, two of which merit discussion. First, Spurgeon challenges the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal. He next argues the trial court erred when it failed to provide the jury with an instruction on self-defense. Because we agree with Spurgeon that the State failed to prove the victim was an “emergency medical care provider” pursuant to section 784.07(l)(a), Florida Statutes, it was error for the trial court to deny the motion for judgment of acquittal. Additionally, while we find the State offered proof sufficient to sustain a conviction for battery, because the record reflects there was some evidence presented to warrant an instruction on self-defense and the trial court failed to give it, we are compelled to reverse and remand for new trial.

Spurgeon was charged with battery on an emergency medical care provider for spitting in the face of hospital security officer, Carlena DenDekker (DenDekker).2 At the time of the offense, Spurgeon was a patient in the emergency department at South Seminole Hospital, unable to leave because of a medical hold.3 Due to his intoxication and aggressive behavior, Spur-geon was restrained by security personnel on two separate occasions. Initially, he was cooperative and offered no resistance. He calmed down after receiving an injection and the restraints were removed.

Sometime after the initial restraints were removed, Spurgeon attempted to leave the hospital. When the nursing staff tried to stop him, Spurgeon became verbally abusive and physically aggressive. As a result, DenDekker and four other security officers were again called to assist. This time, Spurgeon did not consent to being restrained. It was during this second attempt to restrain him that Spurgeon spat on DenDekker after she grabbed him, carried him to the bed, and held his shoulders down. He was subsequently arrested.

Spurgeon was tried before a jury. At the close of the State’s case, defense counsel moved for judgment of acquittal, arguing that the State failed to prove DenDekker satisfied the definition of “emergency medical care provider” as provided in section 784.07(l)(a), Florida Statutes. Section 784.07(l)(a) defines an “emergency medical care provider” as:

[A]n ambulance driver, emergency medical technician, paramedic, registered nurse, physician as defined in s. 401.23, medical director as defined in s. 401.23, or any person authorized by an emergency medical service licensed under chapter 401 who is engaged in the performance of his or her duties.” The term ‘emergency medical care provider’ also includes physicians, employees, agents, or volunteers of hospitals as defined in chapter 395, who are employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a hospital to perform duties directly associated with the care and treatment rendered by the hospital’s emergency department or the security thereof.

§ 784.07(l)(a), Fla. Stat.

Spurgeon contends the statute requires the State to prove that South Seminole [1045]*1045Hospital met the definition of hospital under chapter 395, and that it failed to do so. The State argued that it was not required to prove South Seminole Hospital was a hospital stating, “[T]he definition is — in that section is designed to inform the participants as to what type of people that we’re talking about. It’s not something that is an element of the offense.” The trial court agreed and denied the motion for judgment of acquittal.

Thereafter, Spurgeon moved to dismiss the charges under the “Stand Your Ground” statute.4 Spurgeon asserted the State presented no evidence that would permit private security officers to restrain him against his will and maintained that because the security officers were unlawfully restraining him, his actions in resisting them were lawful self-defense and he was immune from prosecution. The court denied the Defendant’s motion after the State countered that the security officers were lawfully restraining Spurgeon because of the medical hold. In denying the motion, the trial court determined that Spurgeon’s claim presented a jury question, but nevertheless failed to instruct the jury on his theory of self defense. Spur-geon was ultimately convicted, adjudicated guilty of battery on an emergency medical care provider, and placed on two years probation. This appeal followed.

We begin our discussion with the trial court’s denial of the motion for judgment of acquittal based on Spurgeon’s argument that the State failed to prove Den-Dekker satisfied the definition of an “emergency medical care provider” because no evidence was presented that South Seminole Hospital satisfied the definition of “hospital” as that term is defined in chapter 395. Spurgeon argues the trial court incorrectly interpreted section 784.07(l)(a), Florida Statutes, and thereby erred when it denied his motion for judgment of acquittal.

The trial court denied Spurgeon’s motion for judgment of acquittal based on its interpretation of section 784.07(l)(a), Florida Statutes. We review the court’s interpretation of a statute de novo. Kephart v. Hadi, 932 So.2d 1086, 1089 (Fla.2006) (“The interpretation of a statute is a purely legal matter and therefore subject to the de novo standard of review.”). In denying Spurgeon’s motion, the court reasoned:

This Court’s reading of section 784.07(l)(a) is that when it says the term emergency medical care provider it also includes physicians, employees, agents or volunteers of hospitals as defined in Chapter 395. Doesn’t mean hospital as defined in 395, it means—
[[Image here]]
... those type of individuals who may be employed as defined in 395.

The court went on to say:

[M]y interpretation is ... that the statute 784.07(l)(a) does not require the hospital be defined as in 395, but that the physicians, employees, agents or volunteers of hospitals are as defined in 395 and it goes on to say who are employed under contract or otherwise authorized by a hospital to perform duties directly associated which include security.

Words in a penal statute must be strictly construed. See McLaughlin v. State, 721 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Fla.1998). Furthermore, “[i]t is a settled rule of statutory construction that unambiguous language is not subject to judicial construction.” State v. Jett, 626 So.2d 691, 693 (Fla.1993). Here, the court’s construction of section 784.07(1)(a), that the statute [1046]*1046“does not require the hospital be defined as in 395, but that the physicians, employees, agents or volunteers of hospitals are as defined in 395,” is problematic. Since “hospital” is the only term defined in chapter 395, the appropriate construction of section 784.07(l)(a) is that the term “emergency medical care provider” only covers physicians, employees, agents, or volunteers of a hospital as a hospital is defined in chapter 395.

Just as “physician” and “medical director” are specifically defined under section 784.07(l)(a), “hospital” is defined by chapter 395. Section 784.07(l)(a) states:

The term “emergency medical care provider” also includes physicians, employees, agents, or volunteers of hospitals as defined in chapter 395,

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Bluebook (online)
114 So. 3d 1042, 2013 WL 2359485, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8593, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spurgeon-v-state-fladistctapp-2013.