STATE OF FLORIDA v. RODNEY CHAVERS

230 So. 3d 35
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 15, 2017
Docket4D16-3006
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 230 So. 3d 35 (STATE OF FLORIDA v. RODNEY CHAVERS) 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
STATE OF FLORIDA v. RODNEY CHAVERS, 230 So. 3d 35 (Fla. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Conner, J.

The State appeals the trial court’s grant of immunity from prosecution and dismissal of the information against Rodney Chav-ers charging him with second-degree murder with a firearm. Because the order on appeal is silent on necessary findings, we-reverse, quash the order, and remand for further proceedings. ■-

Background

The State charged Chavers with second-degree murdeir with a firearm occurring on November 13, 2015. Chavers filed a motion to dismiss based on immunity under sections 776.012(2) and 776.032(1), Florida Statutes (2016), and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(b). Chavers alleged that he was immune from criminal prosecution because he believed, at the time of the shooting, that the shooting was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony—the victim robbing him of his money.

In July 2016, the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the motion. During the hearing, Chavers testified that on the day of the shooting, he had $300 to $400 in cash in his possession, which he took out of his pocket in front of a group of friends, including the victim. One of the men told Chavers that he should not be walking around with cash on him because of the reputation of the neighborhood. Chavers responded that he “was safe,” that he “had protection,” and that he “wasn’t worried.” Chavers testified that, in response, the victim said that “you [Chav-ers] [sic] not gonna do shit, I’ll take it.” Chavers ignored the victim’s statement and continued talking with his friends.

Unprovoked, Chavers was then attacked from behind on the left side of his face, knocked up against a car, and became dazed. Chavers also testified that as he was trying to get up, he recognized that the victim Was the one that hit him, and that the victim hit him several'more times. He then saw the victim reaching for Chav-ers’s side, but did not know whether the victim was reaching for Chavers’s gun or the money in his pocket. The victim eventually made contact with Chavers’s gun. Chavers tried to remove the victim’s hand from his gun. Chavers grabbed his gun and struggled to block the’ attack with his other hand, and while he was still against the car, because he was not able to get up, he pulled the trigger. The victim did not drop to the ground. Chavers and the victim then ran in different directions. However, the victim eventually died of his'gunshot wounds. Chavers also testified that he had known the victim for years and had previously seen the victim carry a firearm.

Chavers’presented as a witness one of the men in the group that night. The witness corroborated Chavers’s account of the exchange between Chavers and the victim leading up to the men struggling over Chavers’s gun, but upon seeing the two struggle over the gun, the witness ran from the scene. He testified he heard shots, but did not see the actual shooting.

The State called witnesses as well, but none were eyewitnesses to the exchange between Chavers and the victim or the shooting. The State’s witnesses testified regarding the actions and statements of Chavers after the shooting. .

In a written order, the trial court found that Chavers’s “fear of'imminent great bodily harm was objectively reasonable,” and that Chavers established by a preponderance of the evidence that he was “reasonable in his belief that use of the gun - was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.” As such, the trial court decided that Chavers was entitled to immunity, and dismissed the information. The trial court did not diseuss in the written order whether Chavers was engaged in a criminal activity 'at the time of the shooting, even though both the prosecutor and defense counsel argued this issue at the hearing.

The State gave notice of appeal. •

Appellate Analysis

In a motion to dismiss for immunity under section 776.032, Florida Statutes, “[t]he trial court’s factual findings are entitled to deference and must be supported by competent substantial evidence.” Joseph v. State, 103 So.3d 227, 220 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). “The trial court’s legal conclusions are reviewed de novo.” Id. at 230.

Chavers sought immunity from prosecution under sections 776.032(1) and 776.012(2), Florida Statutes (2016). Section 776.032(1) provides, in pertinent part:

(1) A person, who uses or threatens to use force as permitted in s. 776,012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in such conduct and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use or threatened use of such force by the person ....

§ 776.032(1), Fla. Stat. (2016). Section 776.012(2), provides:

(2) A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.

§ 776.012(2), Fla. Stat. (2016). In other words, a grant of immunity under the rubric of “Stand Your Ground” law requires the application of at least two separate statutory provisions, yielding three separate paths to immunity.

The State asserts that the trial court erred in granting Chavers’s motion to dismiss without first determining as a matter of fact whether Chavers was “engaged in a criminal activity.” The State argues that immunity pursuant to section 776.012(2) is unavailable if Chavers was involved in a criminal activity just prior to shooting the victim. The State further argues that the evidence presented clearly establishes that in the moments leading up to the shooting, Chavers was either committing a felony (carrying a concealed firearm without a license) or a misdemeanor (open carry of a firearm). Thus, the State contends that because Chavers was engaged in committing either criminal activity, he is not entitled to immunity.

Chavers responds with three arguments: (1) section 776.012(2) permits a person engaged in criminal activity to use deadly force if he or she satisfies the common-law

duty to retreat; (2) the evidence showed that Chavers might have been openly carrying a firearm, merely a second-degree misdemeanor, which does not or should not qualify as a criminal activity for the purposes of section 776.012(2); and (3) it is the State’s burden to show that Chavers was engaged in a criminal activity, and the State did not satisfy this burden.

Both the State and Chavers contend the language of section 776.012(2) is unambiguous and does not require statutory interpretation, yet standing on that contention, both sides argue the application of the statute yields diametrically opposite results. The primary difference between both sides is the import of the second sentence of section 776.012(2).

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Bluebook (online)
230 So. 3d 35, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-florida-v-rodney-chavers-fladistctapp-2017.