Williams v. State

601 So. 2d 1253, 1992 WL 143614
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided June 26, 1992·No. 91-681·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

601 So.2d 1253 (1992)

Steven Edward WILLIAMS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 91-681.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

June 26, 1992.

*1254 James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Darrell L. Brock, Special Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Rebecca R. Wall, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

DIAMANTIS, Judge.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING AND/OR CLARIFICATION

We withdraw the previous opinion and issue the following in its stead.

Appellant Steven Edward Williams appeals the judgment and sentence entered on his pleas of nolo contendere to first degree murder and armed robbery following the denial of his motion to dismiss those charges on double jeopardy grounds. Appellant also appeals the guidelines departure sentence he received following his plea of guilty to battery in a county jail facility. We affirm the trial court's denial of appellant's motion to dismiss and the departure sentence.

In the late evening of December 2, 1989 or in the early morning of December 3, 1989 a convenience store in Daytona Beach was robbed and the store clerk was murdered. Detective Francis J. Allman of the Daytona Beach Police Department conducted an investigation during which he learned that appellant was a former employee of the store and had been seen around the convenience store before it closed on December 2. Allman located appellant in Marion, Kentucky and had Kentucky officials arrest him on an unrelated capias. Kentucky law enforcement officers recovered a.38 caliber "Llama" revolver from appellant's residence, which revolver was later identified as the murder weapon in this case.

Allman went to Kentucky and interviewed appellant. Appellant initially denied any involvement in the homicide but later recanted. He told Allman that he was staying at a hotel in Daytona Beach and met up with a man named Luis Vargas. Appellant stated that Vargas became interested in appellant's .38 caliber Llama revolver and purchased it from appellant, who then drove Vargas to an area near the crime scene and dropped him off, at which time appellant returned to his hotel. Appellant told Allman that Vargas later returned to the hotel and stated that the gun was now "very hot" because he had shot someone and stolen money. According to appellant, Vargas paid appellant to take the gun back and, after doing so, appellant became scared, checked out of the hotel and returned to Kentucky.

Appellant was subsequently charged with the offense of accessory after the fact to armed robbery[1] and extradited to Florida in March of 1990. On April 24, 1990 appellant entered a plea of guilty to the crime of accessory after the fact to armed robbery which plea was accepted with the condition of a six month prison cap. A presentence investigation was ordered.

On May 24, 1990 Detective Allman executed a sworn complaint affidavit alleging appellant committed the murder of the convenience store clerk. The state then filed a motion to vacate and set aside appellant's plea to the offense of accessory after the fact, alleging appellant had committed a fraud on the court by denying his involvement in the homicide and that the state believed appellant was not guilty of the offense of accessory after the fact. At a hearing on that motion, defense counsel indicated that he had no problem with vacating the plea and saw no double jeopardy problem, noting that the state had uncovered *1255 after-the-fact evidence. The trial court vacated the plea at the request of defense counsel[2] and the state entered a nolle prosequi on that charge.

Subsequently, appellant was indicted for first degree murder[3] and armed robbery.[4] Appellant was then appointed other counsel who filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on double jeopardy grounds. After the trial court denied the motion to dismiss, appellant entered a plea of nolo contendere to the indictment, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to dismiss. Appellant was later charged with the second degree felony of battery in a county jail facility[5] to which he entered a plea of guilty.

Appellant first argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the murder and armed robbery indictment on double jeopardy grounds. This argument is without merit.

The double jeopardy clause bars any subsequent prosecution in cases in which the government, to establish an essential element of an offense charged in the prosecution, will prove conduct that constitutes an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted. Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990). See also Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932); State v. Gibson, 452 So.2d 553, 556-57 (Fla. 1984). This is not an "actual evidence" or "same evidence" test; but instead, the critical inquiry is what conduct the state will prove. Grady, 110 S.Ct. at 2093. Cf. State v. Johnson, 483 So.2d 420 (Fla. 1986).[6]

In the instant case the conduct of appellant which establishes the offense of accessory after the fact[7] is entirely different from his conduct to establish the armed robbery[8] and the murder which occurred during the armed robbery.[9] Although some or all of the evidence may show conduct that constitutes the crimes of armed robbery, murder, and accessory after the fact, appellant's conduct in acting as an *1256 accessory after the fact in no way constitutes an element of either armed robbery or murder. See Dixon v. State, 584 So.2d 195 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). Because the state need not prove conduct that constitutes the offense of accessory after the fact in order to establish an essential element of armed robbery or murder, double jeopardy does not bar appellant's prosecution for armed robbery or murder.

We note that it would not violate appellant's double jeopardy rights to be convicted of robbery and murder, as well as being an accessory after the fact of the same robbery, if appellant took part in the robbery and murder and later assisted Vargas to avoid or escape detection for the robbery. Staten v. State, 519 So.2d 622, 625 (Fla. 1988); Morman v. State, 458 So.2d 88 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). Conviction as a principal and as an accessory after the fact for the same crime does not raise double jeopardy concerns, although under statutory interpretation a principal cannot be an accessory after the fact. Staten, 519 So.2d at 625. Thus, if appellant aided Vargas in avoiding or escaping detection, the vacating of his plea for the offense of accessory after the fact resulted in appellant not being convicted for this conduct. Further, if appellant was the sole perpetrator of the robbery and murder, convictions for both robbery and accessory after the fact of robbery would violate due process because one cannot aid and abet himself to commit a crime: aiding and abetting oneself is a nonexistent crime. Morman, 458 So.2d at 89.[10] In such a situation the court would be required to set aside the conviction for accessory after the fact (the relief which was granted in this case). See Jackson v. State, 543 So.2d 416 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989).

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Williams v. State, 601 So. 2d 1253, 1992 WL 143614 (Fla. Ct. App. 1992).

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