State v. Jefferson
| Decision Date | 09 June 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 50021,50021 |
| Citation | 347 So.2d 427 |
| Parties | STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Arthur Fillmore JEFFERSON, Jr., Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen. and Anthony C. Musto, Asst. Atty. Gen., for petitioner.
Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender and Craig S. Barnard, Asst. Public Defender, for respondent.
This cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari granted to review the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, in Jefferson v. State, reported at 334 So.2d 178 (Fla. 4th DCA, 1976), which conflicts with Adams v. State, 341 So.2d 765 (Fla.1976), thereby vesting jurisdiction in this Court pursuant to Article V, Section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution.
Arthur Jefferson, his brother and another person attempted to rob Carl Dykes of $9,000 in receipts from the Western Sizzlin Steak House in Titusville after Dykes had closed the business for the evening and had exited through the rear door of the restaurant. During the course of events, Dykes was shot several times and subsequently died as a result of these wounds.
Appellee was indicted for murder in the first degree in that he did unlawfully kill Carl Edwin Dykes with a firearm and said killing was perpetrated from a premeditated design to effect the death of Dykes or was committed in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, robbery in violation of Section 782.04(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1973). He was tried, found guilty, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In his instructions to the jury, the judge instructed as to first, second and third degree murder, first degree felony murder, manslaughter, justifiable and excusable homicide, aggravated assault, assault and battery, and assault. However, no instruction was given, nor was one requested, on second degree felony murder. As to second degree murder, the trial judge instructed:
The court did not give the following instruction as to second degree felony murder:
". . . when committed in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any arson, rape, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, aircraft piracy, or the unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb, except as provided in subsection (1), it shall be murder in the second degree and shall constitute a felony of the first degree, . . . ."
The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction and remanded for new trial on the basis that the trial court's failure to instruct on second degree felony murder constituted fundamental error.
We do not agree with the District Court, under the evidence presented, that the trial judge committed reversible error in not instructing on second degree felony murder. This Court's recent decision in Adams v. State, supra, which construes the same statute in force sub judice, is controlling here.
In Adams, su...
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Griffin v. Wainwright
...any possibility that petitioner's participation in the crime "was limited to that of an accessory before the fact." State v. Jefferson, 347 So.2d 427, 429 (Fla. 1977). Indeed, Jefferson and other decisional law available at the time would indicate to a reasonably effective attorney that suc......
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Brumbley v. State
...commission of the underlying felony can be found guilty of second degree felony murder under the applicable statute. State v. Jefferson, 347 So.2d 427, 429 (Fla.1977). Since there was no evidence that appellant was not present during the commission of the underlying felony, the court did no......
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Zamot v. State, 78-2141
...See Brown v. State, 206 So.2d 377 (Fla.1968). And the evidence was more than sufficient to sustain the instant conviction. State v. Jefferson, 347 So.2d 427 (Fla.1977); Hoover v. State, 212 So.2d 95 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968); Crum v. State, 172 So.2d 24 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965). We have some difficulty,......
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State v. Dene
...analysis in Adams v. State, 341 So.2d 765 (Fla.1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 878, 98 S.Ct. 232, 54 L.Ed.2d 158 (1977); State v. Jefferson, 347 So.2d 427 (Fla.1977); and Enmund v. State, 399 So.2d 1362 (Fla.1981), rev'd on other grounds, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 73 L.Ed. 1140 (1982). In......