State v. Robbins

936 So. 2d 22, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 10363, 2006 WL 1708311
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 23, 2006
DocketNo. 5D05-1951
StatusPublished

This text of 936 So. 2d 22 (State v. Robbins) 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 v. Robbins, 936 So. 2d 22, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 10363, 2006 WL 1708311 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

SAWAYA, J.

Four law enforcement officers arrived at a home to execute a search warrant for illegal drugs. Larry Edward Robbins answered the door, the officers attempted to enter, and Robbins shot one of them. The State’s appeal of the thirty-year prison sentence imposed on Robbins for the crime of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer in violation of section 784.07(2)(d), Florida Statutes (2003), directs us to a series of reclassification statutes to determine whether, as the State contends, they require imposition of a life sentence.1 The specific issue we must decide is whether the offense committed by [24]*24Robbins — a recidivist who qualifies as a prison releasee reoffender under section 775.082(9)(a) — constitutes a life felony pursuant to section 775.087(l)(a). If it does, Robbins must be sentenced to life imprisonment pursuant to section 775.082(9)(a)3.a., just as the State contends.

The crime of aggravated battery, which is classified as a second-degree felony under section 784.045(2), is committed when the defendant: 1) causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement; or 2) uses a deadly weapon. § 784.045(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2003). Hence, there are two alternative bases upon which a conviction for this offense may be established. The offense of aggravated battery is reclassified as a first-degree felony pursuant to section 784.07(2)(d) when the crime is committed against a law enforcement officer while engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties. Mills v. State, 822 So.2d 1284, 1287 (Fla.2002) (“[A]s reflected in the language of the statute itself, section 784.07 operates as a reclassification statute.”). The critical part of our analysis must necessarily focus on whether section 775.087 (commonly referred to as the 10-20-Life statute) applies to further reclassify the crime to a life felony as a result of Robbins’ use of a firearm during the commission of the crime. This becomes problematic if the use of the firearm was an element of the crime Robbins committed because, in that instance, the crime of aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer may not be further reclassified under section 775.087. § 775.087(1), Fla. Stat. (2003) (excepting from its provisions “a felony in which the use of a weapon or firearm is an essential element”). But if the crime Robbins committed was aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer causing great bodily harm and the firearm Robbins used inflicted the harm, then reclassification is appropriate because the firearm is not an essential element of the offense. See Lareau v. State, 573 So.2d 813 (Fla.1991); Hayward v. State, 590 So.2d 976, 978 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991) (stating that facts of a criminal case that would support enhancement of aggravated battery to a first-degree felony under section 775.087(1) include “a battery in which the defendant intentionally or knowingly causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement and uses a weapon”); see also Thompson v. State, 636 So.2d 599 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994) (holding that where the verdict provided that the defendant was guilty of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm with a weapon, reclassification was proper).

In Lareau, the defendant shot his victim with a firearm, entered a plea to the charge of “Aggravated Battery (great bodily harm) w/firearm,” and was sentenced based on reclassification of that offense pursuant to section 775.087(1). The court discussed the two alternative bases to establish a conviction for aggravated battery and essentially recognized that the offense of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon may be committed when the victim does not suffer great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. In such circumstances, the weapon is an essential element of the offense. If, however, the weapon is used to inflict great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement, and the state charges the defendant with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, the weapon is not an essential element of the offense. In this situation, the weapon is “incidental to the offense.” 573 So.2d at 814. The court explained as follows:

The facts of this case require us to examine the interplay of the reclassification statute, section 775.087(1), with the [25]*25aggravated battery statute, section 784.045....
As we read the two provisions at issue, section 784.045(l)(a) effectively reclassifies as a second-degree felony the crime of simple battery, section 784.03 of the Florida Statutes (1985), when the defendant, without the use of a deadly weapon, knowingly or intentionally causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. Section 784.045(l)(b) effectively reclassifies as a second-degree felony the crime of simple battery when a deadly weapon is used, by supplementing the statutory definition of aggravated battery to include the use of a deadly weapon. Simple battery, a first-degree misdemeanor, is not subject to reclassification pursuant to section 775.087(1), which applies only to felonies. Aggravated battery with the use of a deadly weapon, section 784.045(l)(b), is not subject to reclassification pursuant to section 775.087(1) because the use of a weapon is an essential element of the crime. However, section 775.087(1) permits reclassification and the consequential enhancement of penalties for the crime of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, section 784.045(l)(a), when a weapon is used to commit the crime.
Under this statutory interpretation, the punishment for battery increases as the degree of actual injury or potential for serious injury becomes greater. For example, a simple battery without the use of a deadly weapon is a first-degree misdemeanor (section 784.03); a simple battery involving the use of a deadly weapon is a second-degree felony (statutorily redefined by section 784.045(l)(b) as aggravated battery); aggravated battery causing great bodily harm is a second-degree felony (section 784.045(l)(a)); and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and involving the use of a deadly weapon is a first-degree felony (section 784.045(l)(a), enhanced by section 775.087(1) by virtue of the use of a weapon or firearm). This interpretation gives consistent effect to both the felony reclassification statute and the provision defining aggravated battery involving the use of a deadly weapon, and it conforms with the legislative intent of increasing the punishment of violent crimes that involve a weapon or firearm. It is also consistent with the language in section 775.087(1) providing for reclassification of felonies where the use of a weapon or firearm is not an essential element of the crime.

Id. at 814-15 (emphasis added).

Here, just as in Lareau, Robbins was charged with an underlying aggravated battery that caused great bodily injury when a firearm was used in the commission of the crime to inflict the injury.2 [26]*26Therefore, pursuant to Lareau, the firearm is not an essential element of the crime. That this is the crime the jury convicted Robbins of committing is clearly revealed by our analysis of the jury instructions delivered to the jury, the purpose of which was to define the essential elements of the crime charged. See State v. Delva, 575 So.2d 643, 644 (Fla.1991) (“We have long held that ‘[i]t is an inherent and indispensable requisite of a fair and impartial trial ...

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Related

Hayward v. State
590 So. 2d 976 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1991)
Lareau v. State
573 So. 2d 813 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1991)
Thompson v. State
636 So. 2d 599 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1994)
State v. Delva
575 So. 2d 643 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1991)
Scott v. State
808 So. 2d 166 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2002)
Gerds v. State
64 So. 2d 915 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1953)
Battle v. State
911 So. 2d 85 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2005)
State v. Waldron
835 So. 2d 1217 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2003)
Mills v. State
822 So. 2d 1284 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
936 So. 2d 22, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 10363, 2006 WL 1708311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-robbins-fladistctapp-2006.