Sikes v. State, 97-0817

• Citation: 711 So.2d 250
• Decision Date: 03 June 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-0817,97-0817
• Parties: 23 Fla. L. Weekly D1341 Mario SIKES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)

Page 250

711 So.2d 250

23 Fla. L. Weekly D1341

Mario SIKES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 97-0817.

District Court of Appeal of Florida Fourth District.

June 3, 1998.

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Tatjana Ostapoff, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Terri Leon-Benner, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Mario Danele Sikes, appellant, appeals the judgment and sentence entered against him. A jury found appellant guilty of second degree felony murder (Count I), kidnapping (Count II), carjacking (Count III) and aggravated assault (Count IV). The trial court sentenced him to serve concurrent 15-year prison terms on Counts I-III and a concurrent 5-year prison term on Count IV. We affirm on all counts.

Appellant and his cousin, Carl Lee Reese, drove from Fort Pierce to Broward County. While appellant was driving Reese around in a station wagon, Reese began talking about robbing someone. Reese told appellant to follow a white Lexus. Appellant began following the car. When the owner of the car stopped at a gas station, appellant parked the station wagon in a nearby parking lot close to some bushes. The owner pulled into an automatic car wash. Reese got out of the station wagon and went into the car wash. Appellant remained in the station wagon. Appellant admitted that he knew Reese had a gun and intended to rob the owner of the car.

After entering the car wash, Reese knocked on the window on the driver's side of the car pretending to be an employee of the gas station. The owner rolled down his window and Reese pointed a gun at the man's head. Reese instructed the owner to get out of the car and took several of his personal belongings. After robbing the owner, Reese forced him to get into the trunk at gunpoint. Reese drove the car out of the car wash and up to the station wagon where appellant was sitting. Reese indicated that the owner of the car was in the trunk and directed appellant to follow him. Appellant followed Reese in the station wagon.

Reese became concerned that the owner had a cell phone in the trunk of the car so he stopped the car and opened the trunk. The owner did not have a cell phone, but he did have two guns in his trunk. The owner came out of the trunk with a gun in each hand. The owner told Reese to put his hands up in the air, but Reese did not comply. Instead, Reese reached near his waistline as if he was attempting to get his gun. The owner fired two or three warning shots before shooting Reese.

Appellant had also stopped and was sitting in the station wagon a short distance away in front of the stolen car. Following the gun fire, appellant drove away and made a u-turn heading back towards the owner as if trying to hit him. The owner, who was on the side of the road, jumped out of the way of the oncoming car and fired a shot at the station wagon. Appellant drove away.

Appellant was convicted of second degree felony murder in the death of Reese, carjacking, kidnapping and aggravated assault for attempting to run over the owner of the car. The carjacking and kidnapping charges were based on the theory that appellant aided and abetted Reese in the commission of those crimes. Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to prove he intended to participate in the carjacking and kidnapping because, at the time Reese entered the car wash, appellant only thought Reese planned to rob the owner. Therefore, appellant contends that he did...